Lacero Contrafaco
by AalisEliza
Summary: Have you ever regretted making a decision? Have you ever had a choice taken away from you? What would you do if you suddenly found yourself alone and struggling to survive?
1. Trapped

July 18

I had always scoffed at the notion that the world was either black or white. So when I was presented with the argument of light verses dark magic I never truly bought into it. I chose my side based on which would bring me the longest and happiest life. It just so happened that those fighting for the ability to use "dark" magic were out for blood. _My blood_. The most logical choice was to stand up and fight. As a result I found myself allied with the Order of Phoenix. Admittedly that does indeed sound cynical and I would never dream of admitting it out loud. My friends and allies would never have given me the opportunity to explain my view point, so it was easier to allow those around me to believe that I see the world like the rest of them.

But I don't.

It's all about the intent. For example, the ministry classifies a tickling hex as light magic. After all what harm could come from a small sensation that left you laughing? Nothing about that could possibly be dark. I disagree. What about if someone held that hex on another human being for so long that the victim wasn't able to breathe any longer? Would you consider that dark magic?

Please do not misconstrue my meaning. I'm not trying to excuse dark magic that is used for murdering someone else. I am also not suggesting that someone would should attempt to find the turning point of twisting a spell beyond its meaning. I'm just pointing out that not all dark magic is what they claim it to be. There are different levels. The most that I have been able to figure out is that what is labeled as dark magic is simply the particular kind that seduces you.

Most muggles consider rituals to be dark magic, yet us magical folk say no—there are some light rituals. So where do you draw the line? Is it a blanket rule? Pick a spot on the map and just sever it into two groups? Who gets to choose? How do they decide?

Politics is one factor in that decision. What sorts of spells does the Ministry of Magic care about occurring? The ones that will result in chaos and usurp its power. As different individuals assemble behind the government, the more it changes. Some people are really concerned with having certain spells restricted, and others are more concerned about having those restrictions lessened.

Did you know that all wands are tracked? There you go panicking—don't worry that bill never made it to Wizengamot. Remember when you were underage? How they told us that if we did magic they'd know? Did you know that they had no idea who actually cast a specific spell? They could only track the location. Really it was only the muggleborns who could actually get caught and that was because of the fact that it was a logical guess.

None of this really matters. I mostly just wanted to get it out of my head. I wish that I could tell someone other than a book about this. I suppose that the idea that this is irrelevant is not quite true. You see, it's because of this idea that I'm stuck here. There is no going back.

* * *

Hermione was sitting on her bed clutching the newspaper in her hands. She was staring at the headlines, unable to process it. The brunette didn't even realize that her hands were shaking. The room around her was empty, and even if it wasn't she wouldn't have realized that anyone was there.

"Sprite?" The name would have been something that she responded to, had she been able to think clearly. The tone was familiar and she was never able to ignore its owner. Her lack of a response told him that something was wrong.

He crept closer, walking silently out of habit. Even when his foot stepped on a creaky floorboard she didn't react. Her normally unruly hair had morphed a massive knot, half tucked in a braid and half wrapped around it. When he walked in front of her, he knelt in front of her.

"Sprite? Hermione?" He murmured, lightly touching her wrists. She didn't even look at him; her gaze was locked on the paper in front of her. He slowly began to ease it out of her grasp and even then she never acknowledged that he was there.

A quick glance to the page told him that a muggle family had died in a car accident recently because of one of the many attacks that had occurred. He scanned the rest of the newspaper, trying to figure out what could have upset her.

"You haven't moved for three days, we need you to eat something." There was no response.

"Hermione we need you to let us help you." Sirius said, disheartened when she laughed bitterly.

"Help me?" She asked, looking at his eyes. Her gaze was frigid and it felt much more like she was staring straight through him.

"How exactly do you expect to help me, when you can't even help yourself?" He swallowed and looked right back at her before answering.

"I'm not going to let you shut down. I need you, Remus needs you. Whether or not you can see how loved you are by the people around you, they are there. We owe you much more because we are your friends than to just let you miss classes just to sit and stare by yourself."

"What gives you the right to boss me around? How can you even—" She was looking at the ground.

"You really want to say something that you might regret?" Sirius asked her. He was glad to see that she actually listened when he saw her mouth slam shut as she stared at the floor.

"The fact that I care about you is the reason that I'm standing up here. Don't think that I won't take this to your uncle, despite your relationship with him."

"Thank you," she managed.

"You can go now." It wasn't a suggestion and he was so surprised to hear it from her that Sirius started laughing.

"Nice try Sprite, but I'm not going anywhere. We're going to get you cleaned up and then we're going down to the kitchens to get you something to eat."

Hermione started to shake her head as she tried to pull her hands from his grasp. Sirius wasn't having any of it; he managed to get a hold of her waist, and pulled her up to her feet. Her knees immediately buckled and he had to pull her up against him to support her.

"No Sirius. This isn't fair." Her voice was weak and she feebly pushed against him.

"Well next time you decide that it's a good idea to shut down, remember that not moving or eating for three days makes it difficult to walk much less try to fight against dashing men who have agendas." She started laughing, in that condescending tone of hers.

"Dashing men? Darling please, you're just trying to look good for all those girls downstairs. I know that you've had your eye on Dorcas Meadows." Sirius grimaced at the name.

"She certainly hasn't bothered to attempt to hide her affection for you." Hermione's voice had taken on a sarcastic bitterness and if Sirius didn't know any better he would have suspected that she was jealous.

"Sprite, since when have you started calling people 'darling?" He asked as he began steering her towards the girls' bathroom.

"I don't. You do! Molly always hated that you called everything with breasts that word." Sirius blanched at her coarse language and at the fact that it supposedly bothered Molly. She'd never mentioned it before.

"The moment that she heard you call me it for the first time, she flipped. That's when you first started calling me Sprite." Hermione started laughing manically. Sirius watched her worriedly, and tried to ignore the fact that the statements she was making were illogical and hadn't happened.

"She didn't like that any better. In fact I'm pretty sure she regretted opening her mouth in the first place." Hermione said with a bell like laugh. Sirius didn't answer. There wasn't any point in attempting to reason with her when she was in such a state. As he guided her to the other room he somewhat regretted becoming an animagus. As a dog his senses were extremely sensitive and Hermione didn't exactly smell the greatest at the moment.

He wandlessly turned the faucets on in the tub, before gently lifting Hermione in and climbing in with her. His clothes stuck to him uncomfortably, but he ignored the feeling. While his family was a sore subject he had always been grateful that the pureblood mania had included private lessons at home. As a result he was at the top of his class without even trying. His mother had insisted that he learn wandless magic early.

"I don't know how to fix this," Hermione looked vacant, as if she wasn't sitting in front of him mentally.

"I mean I know how to fix a lot of things, but this?" Her voice had taken a frustrated high note.

"Sprite, you're not responsible for everything," he reminded her as he started washing her hair. His hands brushed against the pearl necklace that was always around her neck. As he touched it, her hand flew up to it as well. Their eyes anchored to each other's—forgetting everything around them, including how to breathe.

Sirius forced himself to let go and clear his head. He was afraid of stepping out of the room in case she slipped under the water, but he could afford her some privacy. He threw a spell out to alert him if she slid under the water as he turned around. Ten minutes later she spoke.

"You can turn around." Hermione was standing in clean clothes by the mirror. Her hair was in a French braid down her back.

"You can do wandless magic?"

"Yes," he answered as he instantly dried out his clothes.

"One of the requirements of growing up as the future 'Lord Black.' Are you ready to head down for some food?" She hesitated in answering before nodding her head. She walked out of the room back towards her bed, to grab a muggle zip-up. It was a blue one that she wore nearly every day. Pulling it on, she walked towards the door, and suddenly faltered.

Sirius stepped up to her and held out his hand. Hesitantly Hermione reached out and grasped it.


	2. Ace In The Hole

It was August. In less than a month she would be back at Hogwarts. Back in the one place she had always considered home. Most students thought of Hogwarts as a second home, or just a school. There were a few however that acknowledged the place as their first home. Harry had been just like her, Hogwarts offered them a place of belonging. They were wanted for the first times in their lives.

Hermione's parents were supportive of their daughter's magical ability, but they didn't understand it. Whenever she talked excitedly about the things that she learned each year over summer holiday, they would smile and nod along. It didn't take her long to realize that they often had no idea what was going on, or that they really thought of it as nonsense.

She hadn't found out until much later that her parents had only agreed to allow her to attend Hogwarts once they had found out that not doing so would result in very chaotic and dangerous magical outbursts. They were then convinced that she would have transcripts that ensured that she got into the best muggle universities, as long as she applied herself.

Well there's no doubt that she applied herself to satisfy her parents' wishes. She had learned through their various letters over the course of first year which news to share, and which to withhold. Hermione had begun to filter her life for her parents from the age of twelve.

She was eighteen now; seventeen if you didn't count the time turner use from third year. She did though. Quite honestly she'd never bothered telling anyone, well with the exception of Sirius who also told Remus. Harry and Ron didn't know though.

Hermione was sitting on her couch twirling her long hair. It was bordering on impractical as it was dangerously getting close to her reaching her waist. She just hadn't wanted to cut it yet. That wasn't the real reason; the weight of it tamed her curls and kept them much more manageable. It also took away a great deal of the frizz. What she really liked about the longer style was that it drastically changed how she appeared. Since her face had thinned out and her hair had lengthened, she looked nothing like herself before Harry, Ron and she had gone on the run. The side-bangs weren't exactly in style right now, but she didn't care.

Her flat was located in Muggle London, not that far away from Diagon Alley. It was weird to refer to it as hers; it was weird to live by herself. She'd chosen it because she'd wanted to be able to get to everything rather quickly. Hermione had always assumed that she would move back in with her parents for a little while after graduating Hogwarts. Then again she'd always expected to graduate on time. It also helped that she felt less alone in the big city. Her book list was sitting on the coffee table in front of her, and she just so happened to constantly be looking over at it.

She needed to go get those books, and she knew that it was probably best if she did it sooner rather than later. There was just a part of her that was just…not into doing anything. It'd been like this ever since she'd gotten here. Actually it had started before—just after the supposed "Final Battle." It turns out that it wasn't so final.

Harry was thankfully still alive—thanks to Sirius showing up. That was surreal, and odd. If she hadn't seen him for her herself, and interrogated him she wouldn't have believed him. The Veil is apparently a gateway to another dimension where you have to complete a series of tasks before you are given the option to go forward to the next world or go back.

Sirius' task just so happened to last for about two years. Hermione didn't know what exactly he had to do; just that Sirius only had the one task. All he was willing to tell her was that he had been given an assignment that required him to find a solution to Voldemort. She had been so excited, thinking that he had brought them their salvation. He had started shaking his head when she had said something about how he was going to save everyone.

"No love, it doesn't work like that."

"What do you mean? You just said that you had to create a solution against Vold—you know who!" Hermione said correcting herself so as not to incur the taboo. She had watched as his eyes softened towards her, and yet she hadn't realized what he was trying to tell her so she just plowed onward.

"Since you're back that means that you succeeded." Her eyes were shinning as she spoke.

"Hermione!" She paused mid step and turned to look at him. Her smile was beginning to faltering.

"Love, there is no plan." She stared at him. Hermione took a step back and her jaw slowly started to lower.

"I don't understand," her voice had a quiver to it. Sirius stepped closer to her and cupped her chin. She stared at him, confused and scared.

"My task isn't going to work the way you think it is going to," He said. Her eyes slid shut as he pulled her closer to him. The evening had been so wonderful before this, and she had ruined it by managing to get too excited. That had always been her problem; blowing tings way out of proportion and now she had managed to bugger up the evening.

Her eyes went back to his, and she started to really look at him. He was still extremely attractive even as an older man. Even as she stared at him, she didn't notice that he was slowly leaning in closer to her. In fact she didn't realize it until he was kissing her. It was chaste, but delightful. Hermione let her eyes close as his hand caressed the side of her neck.

"What was that for?" Her voice was light and fluttery.

"For being a joy and allowing me to spend time with you." His answer made her smile softly at him.

"I'm going to say goodnight, Sirius."

"Goodnight Hermione."

That was the last thing that she remembered before waking up. The bedroom that she woke up in was not the one she was in when going to sleep. It was considerably plainer, although still decorated lovely. Sitting up was a terrible idea, she found herself moaning with her head in her hands.

"You're awake then are you?" Hermione rolled off the bed quicker than lightening, reaching for her wand. She didn't find it, and her mind was frantic. She was thankful that her instincts kicked in and she hid against the edge of the bed.

"What do you want?"

"Calm down dear, we're just interested in you getting better." The voice was familiar. She couldn't quite place it and she wasn't willing to look over the bed. She was scanning the room for anything that she could find to use as a weapon as she focused on the "we're." Plural so there were at least two people.

"What's wrong with me?"

"Concussion, a few other small injuries." Hermione gingerly reached up and touched her head. She winced at the slight tenderness that her fingers brushed again.

"What's your name?" The brunette asked.

"Minerva," the lady answered. Hermione found herself flipping around to peak over the bed. She saw a middle aged woman with orange-red hair looking at her concerned.

"Last name," Hermione whispered.

"McGonagall," she answered.

Hermione stared at the woman, trying to figure out just what was going on. Minerva McGonagall was dead. Yet this woman who looked eerily enough like her was standing in front of her claiming to be her. She had some changes—her hair wasn't grey, she wasn't wearing glasses and she seemed to be more relaxed.

It was her, but at the same time it wasn't. Hermione stared at her trying to figure out what was different. It hit her like a ton of bricks. She was _younger_.

"What year is it?"


	3. Time Changes All Things

That's the question isn't it? It turns out that Hermione wasn't exactly in the time that she was supposed to be. She was in the seventies—as in the era of hippies and marauders. Imagine that. Once Professor McGonagall had calmed her down and proved the year, by no less than three different sources. She had decided that it would be best if she made herself and Hermione a pot of tea. The brunette had smiled at the suggestion, shortly after her acceptance to Hogwarts, her mother had gotten Hermione addicted to the stuff. She had taken to sharing a pot with her professor anytime that the boys and she were fighting. It had always made her feel better, and Professor McGonagall had become a close friend to her as well. As the tea steeped Hermione started to look around the small cottage and smiled. It was perfectly Minerva. Once the tea was ready, it didn't take long for Professor Dumbledore to join them.

Sorry.

_Uncle_ Albus is how she is to refer to him now. That change is still very weird. Not to mention the fact that she now had a father again. He was less than pleased —at least that's how he acted— when he was informed about stepping in to become a parent to a "sixteen year old." That was the icing on the cake; supposedly Aberforth Dumbledore had a daughter years ago that he'd sent to live with her mother after the couple had decided that they couldn't stand one another's company. Magical divorces were non-existent even in her time and so Hermione wasn't sure who was going to buy that story.

After much debate between the three of them, they came up with a seemingly plausible back story. As Headmaster of Hogwarts, Albus had been put under immense pressure to have his niece educated there and he had finally convinced his brother to agree. In addition he decided that due to curriculum differences and for less suspicion; Hermione was to be a sixth year.

Against her better judgment she had to admit that the idea wasn't without logic. After all Hogwarts rarely ever accepted any students that hadn't started their education there. Magical Academic institutions were very strict on just who they accepted. This was not only a common practice, but it was common knowledge so if she were to just show up and then graduate a year later there would be several red flags.

It was her who brought up the fact that anyone would be able to do a quick parental check spell and find out that it was all a fabrication. She was hoping to find a different solution—one which sent her home. Unfortunately Uncle Albus had mentioned that they were going to magically adopt her into the family. Surprisingly enough, Harry and Ron were both wrong. It turns out that there is a subject in which she is not familiar with and it happened to be Magical Adoptions. She'd never heard of or read about them before in her life.

Magical Adoption is a blood ritual, but one that is still in the realm of light magic. It also happens to be untraceable and no one can distinguish between a magical adoption and a natural birth—at least not by magic. Hermione has her own suspicions that a DNA test would reveal the difference, but she wouldn't be able to test that theory for several decades.

The ritual did affect her though. She is now taller, a great change from her five foot and four inches to five foot and eight inches. Her eyes are now hazel instead of brown, no doubt a mixture of the Dumbledore's famous dominant blue eyes and her original. As a result of the height difference her frame was smaller and she no longer desired to ever touch heels.

She was still sitting on her couch. Her eyes drifted back over to the book list. She knew…she knew that she needed to get out of this apartment. It wasn't exactly empty, but at the same time it wasn't anything that actually meant something to her. Uncle Albus had helped her furnish it—well the money that he gave her helped her. Her dad and uncle had both agreed that if the three of them were going to do this, then they were going to actually put forth the effort. This wasn't going to be a half-hearted plan; it was going to be permanent.

So she was officially christened Hermione Jane Laelia Dumbledore. They had agreed for her to retain her sanity by keeping her original name and just add a second middle name—as was their family tradition. It was weird. She felt like she was turning into Harry, and that was especially true when they took her to the family vault at Gringrotts. She had her own now, and she couldn't even estimate how much money that she had in that vault.

The apartment was modest, yet for just her she felt that it was so obscene. A three bedroom apartment in the city of London was pricy. Although because it was a muggle apartment so close to Diagon Alley, it was quite a bit cheaper than Wizarding Apartments and other muggle ones. This was true for a few reasons. The first was because the area in Muggle London wasn't the nicest during the seventies. In fact it was downright sketchy. Wizarding Apartments had several dozen protection spells around their buildings as well. Each spell drove the price up higher and higher, although she supposedly could afford it.

Minerva, as she was ordered to call her favorite professor had suggested purchasing one of those instead of the one that she was currently living in. She felt that Hermione would be safer around other wizards. Uncle Albus had agreed and mentioned that it would make him feel better as well. Her father had shrugged and told her that it was up to her.

Hermione had honestly preferred living away from the Wizarding world. Growing up had been awesome because she had the best of both worlds. Not to mention she didn't want to get overwhelmed without of an escape from it all.

It was weird that she kept referring to them as family. It was weird having a family. She'd sent hers away before her final year of school—a year that she had never completed. Part of her hadn't expected them to survive, which is why she had decided to make the spell one that only her wand could reverse. After it had been snapped though, she knew that there wasn't any hope that she'd ever meet them again as their daughter.

It had bothered her, but she'd refused to dwell on it. Now it was all that consumed her. She would never see her parents or Harry and Ron. The Weasley's as she knew them were gone forever. It was hard to think about and for the first time in her life she finally regretted shoving aside those feelings when they first cropped up. Even with that acknowledgement, she knew that she wasn't ready to start dealing with it.

She was still sitting on the couch. Hermione knew that she should stand up and grab her keys so that she could just walk out the door. She couldn't seem to tear her eyes away from her chocolate colored curls. She couldn't tear her mind away from everything that she had lost. How was she supposed to move forward, beyond everything that had happened? How was she supposed to return to Hogwarts, without Ron and Harry? How was she supposed to get home?

Home. Right that wasn't exactly an option. Not even Dumbledore knew how to send her back home. She had to figure out how she traveled back in the first place and from there how to develop a solution. By the time that occurred, she would have been too emotionally developed into this time, not to mention the fact that she would have aged considerably. No. Going back home wasn't an option.

Hermione didn't know what finally spurred her to get off of the couch. There was a part of her felt like she could sit there for days on end, just staring blankly at the wall. It wasn't that she wanted to; it was just that she felt as though she couldn't move. She felt numb. She felt like everything was speeding by her and that she wasn't even breathing. Before she realized that she was no longer sitting down, she was entering the Leaky Caldron. She was half surprised that it was still there and that it still looked run-down.

Diagon Alley was alive. The image made her smile despite the fact that it was bittersweet. In her day every single shop had closed down because of Death Eater's running around. She was looking at it when it was obviously doing well. It took her another minute before she was able to start moving further into the shops. There were just so many people in front of her. The crowds drove her towards the edge of the street where she was basically clinging to the walls of shops.

_Claustrophobia doesn't disappear during time travel_.

She managed to reach Olivander's shop with little to no trouble, although she could have done without people walking so closely to her every few seconds.

"May I help you?" The question startled her, causing her to flinch and nearly knock into a shelf. She looked up to see the shop owner, who still looked rather elderly.

"Yes, I need to purchase a wand."

"Do you perchance have your old one with you?" He asked looking at her with a glint in his eyes. Hermione wasn't sure whether it was a routine look or one that was full of mistrust.

"No, I'm afraid not. A friend of mine managed to snap it by accident." That statement earned quite a look from the shopkeeper.

"Most unfortunate Miss Dumbledore," he replied. She looked at him and smiled.

"My uncle mentioned that I would be coming by?" Ollivander nodded and smiled before gesturing towards the back.

"We'll have to start at the beginning since you are sixth year and no longer have the old pieces. Your magic may have changed. Your uncle's did at your age." Hermione looked at him surprised.

"Pardon?"

"Magic changes; it grows and develops certain abilities. It's like a muscle, and every witch and wizard has a certain level of strength, but beyond that they must work to make their magic stronger."

"I have never heard of that concept," Hermione mentioned.

"Sadly I am not surprised. The ministry tries to keep certain things under the rug. Did you know that there are no magical trackers for youngsters? They only can detect that magic was used—and only by casting spells around the area where known students live." Ollivander said as he pulled out several boxes of wands.

"They have no way of tracking students who have magical parents then?" She asked as her eyes widened in surprise. No wonder they were able to track Harry and his "misuse of magic" in third year. They would no doubt have dozens of spells around him.

They went through dozens of wands and finally after an hour and a half they had found the one that claimed her. She had begun to think that they weren't going to find a match and she wasn't exactly surprised since she wasn't from this time. Then he brought a mahogany box to her try.

Her new wand was eleven inches long and made of holly. It had a phoenix feather for a core. She was staring at Harry's wand.


	4. Old Friends With A New Face

After leaving Ollivander's with her new wand, _Harry's_ wand, Hermione made her way towards the bookstore so that she could grab her text books. She had made a duplicate bag to the one that she Harry and Ron had carried around when they first had gone searching for Horcurxes. Each purchase immediately got tossed into the new bag, which she'd bought the minute that she'd had a chance. This one thankfully wasn't pink and it had a strap. By the time that she had finished getting all of her supplies, she was already rethinking her desire to go into muggle London as well. As she lingered in the Leaky Caldron for a moment, she acknowledged the fact that if she went back to her apartment, there was a good chance that she'd never make it at all. Flipping her long tresses over her shoulder she started heading towards the entrance.

"Bill watch out where you're going! Charlie stop it!" Hermione froze at the motherly voice chastising her children who promptly ran smack into the brunette's legs. While she wobbled a bit she thankfully was able to keep her balance, but when she caught sight of the two children she was sent reeling.

"I am so sorry my dear. They can be a bit of a handful." Hermione stared at the redhead standing in front of her. If she didn't know better, she would have thought that she was looking at a slightly older and pregnant version of Ginny who had curly hair.

"It's fine," she said. Her voice was quiet as she stared at the woman in front of her.

"Are you quite alright dear?" Molly asked concerned. Hermione nodded vacantly before shaking her head and starting to laugh.

"Yes, sorry. I'm just in a bit of déjà vu." The redhead started laughing and patted her shoulder.

"I've been there before, anytime Charlie does something remotely close to his older brother." Hermione glanced over at the two children who were staring at the Hermione. She smiled down at them, and they both instantly turned shy.

"How old are they?"

"Bill here will be six in November and Charlie will be four in December. It's hard to believe I'm a mother of three at twenty-six years old!" She patted her full stomach as she grinned. Hermione had to force herself not to gape. Twenty-six years old? How far back had she traveled? Certainly time couldn't have been that compressible.

"I'm sorry dear I didn't catch your name," the comment caught her off guard.

"Oh, I'm Hermione." She reached her hand out and shook Molly's.

"Molly Weasley. Would you like to get lunch with the three of us? I happen to be starving, and I've no idea where Author might be off to." Hermione meant to say no, that she shouldn't mess with time any further, before she found a way home, but when she went to speak another word tumbled out instead.

"Yes!" They ended up traveling to a café in Diagon Alley that Molly just raved about. Once they were seated and had their drinks Molly started asking questions about her.

"I assume that you are a Hogwarts student? Which house are you in?" Molly asked once Hermione had nodded in answer to her first question.

"I'm not sure yet, this will be my first year. My uncle has insisted that I attend his school and my father finally gave in. Before that I was attending a much smaller school that my mother had attended. I guess the board of governors didn't like the appearance that my attending another student gave off."

"Your uncle?" Molly asked curiously as she caught the cup that Charlie was about to flip over. He grinned up at his mother who tried to look at him sternly, but only managed to subdue a small grin.

"Yes, he's the headmaster there." Molly's eyes jumped to her immediately and Hermione couldn't deny the surprise on her face.

"You're his famous niece? Oh I've heard so much about you!" She exclaimed excitedly. Hermione's eyes rose to her hairline.

"I didn't know that you knew him."

"Oh yes! I was a Gryffindor, plus he's a close friend of the family. Although I am slightly surprised, I had assumed you were muggleborn because of your outfit." Hermione glanced down at the leather jacket she wore of a tank top and jeans. She smiled at the look, and quite frankly she couldn't blame Molly for assuming her blood status. Hermione grinned at the thought of just how weird she must look. The jacket was one of the only items that she had from this time and she still wasn't sure how that was transported with her, since she wasn't wearing it when she'd gone to bed. She was glad that it somehow managed to come with her. It was her favorite piece of clothing.

She was quite a sight—jeans that were worn on her hips, layered tank tops, a brown leather jacket, and a pearl necklace. She certainly was not going to blend in well here. Hermione had tried on the jeans that she'd been given by her uncle, who had bought them as a gift for her. They just felt weird. Having the waist that high was just odd. A book later and she had jeans that were just like the ones from her time.

She felt pressure put onto her lap and she looked down startled to see Charlie climbing into her lap. Molly started chuckling when she saw the two. Charlie immediately began to fascinate himself by playing with her long strands of hair, which were within an easy reach.

"I haven't managed to see him in quite some time though, probably not since the last ball that my parents held. " Molly said pulling her back to the conversation.

"You'll have to come to the next one! I'll make sure that Albus brings you. The Malfoy's have always tried to beat the Prewetts at holding the most fashionable parties, but my mother prides herself in outdoing them each year. " Hermione was surprised to hear that Molly came from money. She immediately wondered what happened to her parent's funds after they passed. It certainly would have been woeful to hear if Voldemort had taken it somehow.

"That would be delightful," she murmured. She had never seen this side of Molly. Hermione was still struggling with the fact that she was twenty-six at the moment. She just seemed so much more alive! The last time that she had spoken with her, Molly was struggling with moving about day to day. The most she would do would stare at a wall and mutter Fred's name. It just got worse when George committed suicide.

"Have you managed to get all of your items for school?" Hermione looked at her as Charlie tugged on her hair and started swinging them like jump ropes.

"Most of my things, but I still wanted to go into Muggle London." Bill suddenly decided that he was tired of sitting still and promptly started climbing off his chair and underneath the table.

"Bill," Molly called out. Hermione smiled as she noticed the warning tone in her voice. He didn't respond and in fact he started talking back to her.

"Did you have errands that you needed to run?" Hermione asked her as she glanced underneath the table at the older redhead boy. Just wait until she got back home and told him how she'd seen him when he was five years old.

"Yes, otherwise I never would have attempted to come without Arthur. Bill and Charlie have so much energy and typically they like to gang up on me." Hermione bit her lip as Charlie reached up and patted her cheek. She grinned before looking back up at Molly.

"Would you mind if I accompanied you? I don't really fancy venturing out on my own quite yet." Molly looked surprised and then smiled.

"That sounds delightful, plus it would be marvelous to be able to talk with someone who can form proper sentences!" Hermione started laughing at the statement.

The rest of the afternoon was lovely, although it ended very excitedly. Molly and Hermione had wondered into store after store, including a baby store to look at things for the new baby. Within seconds of walking into the building, she ironically went into labor. Luckily the war had given Hermione a set of skills that included staying calm in situations where most people would panic. She was able to help Molly get to the hospital while holding Charlie and Bill thankfully managed to not run away during that time.

Once Arthur had gotten there, she had offered to take the boys back to the Burrow and watch them for as long as they needed. She could tell that Arthur was torn, with concern for Molly, but also for leaving the twins with a virtual stranger.

"I'm sure that you're very nice, but—"

"I understand Arthur, I just don't want to leave you hanging, and Molly mentioned that you were family friends with my Uncle Albus." She forced herself not to wince at the name drop, but she knew that Molly needed her husband. She also knew how stubborn Arthur could be. The moment that Arthur heard the name he perked up.

"Oh," he said trying his hardest not to sound awkward.

"It's okay! It's your right to be protective of your sons. I just want to make sure that you and Molly can be focused on this, while not worrying about these two trying to compete for attention." She assured him as she nudged Charlie who was still playing with her hair. Arthur was nodding by this point.

"Let me check with Albus and our other sitter." He said. Hermione nodded and headed into the room with Molly.

"He worries so much," The redhead said wringing her hands. Hermione smiled at the movement that she would constantly be doing later on in life. Arthur came back in the room shortly later on and he was smiling.

"I spoke with your uncle and I added you to the wards. I'm going to floo our regular sitter so that way you have some help. They are quite the handful in the house!" Molly suddenly started having contractions, which distracted Arthur and distressed the boys. Unfortunately Charlie and Bill needed to be taken out of the room before Hermione could ask who the regular sitter was. When it became clear that she wasn't going to be able to talk with Arthur again, she decided that it would best if she just headed back to the Burrow.

"Okay, ground rules." Hermione said to Bill and Charlie once the boys were seated in the kitchen.

"You have to stay in my sight the entire evening. If you don't there will be consequences…regarding magic!" This didn't exactly have the desired effect. Both boys' eyes lit up and they grinned.

"Food?" The question came from Charlie. Hermione grinned and nodded her head.

"Dinner sounds good doesn't it? Well let us venture in to the kitchen and we will fix those appetites!" She was in the middle of cooking dinner when a loud snap occurred in the living room, followed by a loud curse word. She jumped in surprise, and immediately glared at the fact that she flinched. The boys immediately looked up curiously and started moving in the direction of the door.

"Freeze." Hermione was surprised when they actually listened and she swiftly moved in front of them.

"Go into the pantry, and stay there until I come get you." She whispered to Bill. He nodded and led Charlie inside and shut the door. Hermione watched to make sure that they were out of sight before creeping over to the door. She saw a figure hunched over and rubbing his foot.

"I have got to tell them to move that," he grumbled lowly as he finally straightened up. He noticed her immediately and he took a defensive stance with his wand.

"Who might you be?" He asked warily. Hermione raised an eyebrow. She wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of knowing that his presence threw her off guard.

"I could ask you the same question."


	5. OOH LA LA

They were staring at one another. Hermione's mind kept darting between the two boys in the kitchen pantry and the individual standing in front of her. She was thankful for the fact that she had cast a boundary spell, so that she knew if they left or not, because all she could focus on was the individual in front of her. He was absolutely gorgeous—shaggy, dark hair, ripped jeans, a tight tee-shirt to show off his arm muscles. For a brief moment she considered whether or not he was a muggle, but she couldn't really imagine that Molly would risk the boys talking too much about magic. The fact that he was extremely good looking didn't deter her instincts from taking over. She naturally took a defensive stance with her wand hidden against her arm, ready to attack at any second while maintaining surprise.

"Arthur told me that Molly was in labor and that they needed someone to help with the boys. He mentioned that a girl would be here, but forgot to tell me your name. I'm Bill and Charlie's regular sitter." She didn't respond, and Hermione's grip didn't ease on the wand in her hand. There was something familiar about the boy in front of her, but she couldn't place it.

"My name is Sirius Black," her eyes widened at the introduction.

"_Sirius? Sirius looked like this_?" She couldn't prevent the thoughts from racing across her mind. She knew that he had been rebellious and wore muggle clothing as a teenager, but she had no idea that he looked this good in the style.

"How exactly do you know Molly and Arthur?" Hermione asked, trying hard to remember herself. She had always thought that they hadn't met until after he had escaped from prison. The Weaseley's seemed to believe in the stories that he was criminal that year. It had also explained Molly's treatment of Sirius during Hermione's time. She had never heard anyone mention when or how the two parents had originally met the boy standing in front of her.

"Um…Arthur is my favorite Uncle's cousin. Honestly it depends upon how technical you want to be. The family tree gets a bit weird and distorted the farther back you look." He answered with a shrug. Hermione nodded slowly.

"What about you? How do you know them?" He looked at her just as suspiciously which made her feel better for her reaction towards him. At least he wasn't trying to figure out why she was acting so defensively.

"I met Molly in town this afternoon. I was with her when she went into labor. e How do I know who you say you are?" She asked warily, as she tried to keep her instincts at bay. She knew that this was overreacting, but it had become second nature. Old habits die hard—especially when it was life and death on the line.

"Seriously? You think that I am here what—impersonating their regular sitter?" He was obviously stunned at the idea. Hermione just looked at him. He opened his mouth to reply, but the floo lit up before he could.

"Ah I see the two of you have met." Minerva's voice floated towards them. In her surprise, Hermione had whipped her wand around so that she could attack easier when the floo had lit up. Minerva looked at Hermione slightly appalled at the fact that she held a wand in her hand defensively, but didn't comment on it.

"Professor McGonagall? Wait, you know this girl?" Sirius asked.

"Of course I do Mr. Black. Molly and Arthur asked me to stop by and make sure that you two had met. Arthur was worried about miscommunication." Hermione relaxed enough to loosen her grip on the wand, and began twirling it loosely in her hands. Minerva eyed her warily and Hermione knew that she was trying to not go into lecture mode.

"I am quite surprised that you are still in one piece, Mr. Black." The boy gaped at the professor obviously feeling slightly insulted at the insinuation. Hermione bit back a grin and silently thanked her professor.

"You don't think that I could take a witch in a magical duel?" He asked confirming Hermione's assumption. Minerva smirked ever so slightly before replying, a look that was rarely ever seen by her students.

"I would have to place my money on Miss Dumbledore." Hermione smiled to herself at her favorite professor comment. Sirius was looking at her with a gaze that just oozed curiosity. She felt her cheeks tinge up, which was ridiculous. There was nothing to be embarrassed about, and she was too much of a hardened solider to be blushing about a boy looking at her.

"Well now that I know that the two of you haven't tried to kill one another I must be going. I have a few more stops to make for Hogwarts. Please do try and get along with one another." Minerva walked over to Hermione and gave her a hug before she could object.

"Hermione you are allowed to make friends here. Don't isolate yourself in hopes of achieving something that may be impossible." She whispered to the girl. Hermione nodded dazed, unsure of whether or not she was willing to believe the comment. After her favorite professor had left the premises Hermione turned around and walked into the kitchen to retrieve the boys. They immediately started attacking Sirius with hugs which gave Hermione the chance to pull out bread, jam and peanut butter.

"That's breakfast food." Bill pointed out as she started making all of them sandwiches. Hermione smiled and leaned in to whisper conspiratorially.

"I'm making you a very special muggle dinner. It's called peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Using breakfast material it magically becomes dinner." Bill looked at her as though she had just turned his favorite teddy bear into a real one. He started asking her questions about other breakfast food that could be turned into dinner.

"You're not cooking?" Sirius asked raising an eyebrow at her. Hermione looked up at him as she started setting plates in front of everyone.

"I would prefer not to, this way clean up's easier." She answered simply. The truth was that Hermione was absolute rubbish at cooking magically. Her mom had taught her how to cook from an early age and it had become an activity they did together on an almost daily basis. It had helped her become brilliant at potions. When Mrs. Weasley had offered to teach her, she realized that she just couldn't bear it. It felt as though she was betraying her mother in some way.

"I didn't realize Dumbledore had any kids." The comment was not unexpected and Hermione took a bite of her food before answering.

"Most don't." If he was surprised by her answer he didn't show it. Hermione looked over at Charlie and Bill to make sure they were eating alright.

"How come you don't go to Hogwarts?" She looked at him wondering if this was going to suddenly become a question and answer session. Trying to buy time she shrugged.

"My mum didn't want me that far away. I'm not really sure. Something to do with the relationship between her and my dad, in my personal opinion I think they were afraid that I'd choose favorites." She said after a moment.

"What about you?" She asked trying to turn the tables so she didn't have to endure the hotseat.

"What house are you in?" He looked at her surprised that she'd chosen that question.

"No assumption that I'm just a Slytherin because of my surname?" He asked sarcastically. Hermione rolled her eyes as Bill asked for another sandwich.

"You know what they say about those who assume things." She said in a singsong voice as Charlie looked at her. Sirius gave her a small smile before answering.

"Gryffindor which helped me successfully anger my parents. It eventually resulted with my disownment." Hermione raised her eyebrows in surprise. She knew that would eventually happen, but she hadn't realized that it had before his sixth year.

"Wow. Seems kind of heartless." She said. He nodded cheerfully.

"It's worth it. I don't have to get married now to a complete stranger and I get to live with my best friend's family. There aren't too many downsides." She looked at him and for a moment she saw the Sirius from her time. There was a slight look of sadness, for a brief moment but he quickly hid it under a smile. After they put both boys to sleep they ended up sitting in the family room talking about random things. The conversation had continued to flow and Hermione was thankful that there hadn't been any awkward silences for the most part.

"Interesting necklace." The comment seemed to come out of the blue, and for a moment Hermione was confused before she realized that she had been playing with the strand of pearls around her neck. Each pearl had a golden tint to it and the center one was in-cased in a gold with diamonds. She looked down at it for a moment.

"Thank you."

"Boyfriend give it to you?" Sirius asked. Hermione was confused by the sudden change in his tone. He seemed almost on guard. She shook her head.

"Betrothed?" He continued.

"There isn't any one. It was just a gift from an old friend." She answered dropping it suddenly as if stung her. Sirius looked at her as if he were trying to read an enemy. Hermione felt extremely flustered and looked away.

"I find that surprising." She looked at him with confusion.

"Why? Girls are allowed to have jewelry and be single." She said. Sirius nodded with a slight smirk.

"True, though I find that it's often not the case." She rolled her eyes and laughed.

"This is just a plain old necklace that one of my friends had no use for. Magical tests have been run on it to ensure that there aren't any magical properties." It was true. Albus had insisted on it when she hadn't seemed to remember that she was wearing it. Now that she thought about it most of the time it was though she didn't remember putting it on.

"So did you ask me about my necklace just so you could find out if I was single?" She asked a moment later. Sirius looked at her for a moment before he threw his head back and started laughing. If Hermione hadn't known him in the future she would have felt slightly insulted. However she knew this particular reaction meant that she had completely caught him off-guard. He had shared that small tidbit of information one day when Ginny had informed him that she would be allowed to see Harry in time she wanted pleased. That conversation came up after Molly had started pestering Sirius about helping her prevent the two from being alone together. Ginny had become rather blunt about it when Sirius tried to intervene.

"Nicely played." He said after he finished laughing.

"Birds that I use that trick on generally never call me out on it. They usually are just so flattered that I'm paying attention to them that they don't care." He said with that smirk returning to his face.

"Why would they ever be that excited?" She asked innocently. Sirius looked at her and clutched his heart.

"Oh how you have wounded me Miss Dumbledore. Here I thought you were swooning head over heels for me."

"You wish."


	6. Missteps and Pitfalls

_Hello all my wonderful readers! Well if you're out there that is, part of me wonders if anyone is actually reading this story. That said, this chapter is when everything starts heating up. This is not going to be a normal time travel story. This is something that I'm using as an outlet for certain issues going on in real life. So please tell me your concerns. Critique this story. Tell me what is working and what is not working. If this isn't any good I need to know. The more reviews that you give, the more incentive I have to write. I'm tempted to go on strike-much like the COTA-if I don't' receive reviews. As a college student, I can do it. I hope you enjoy. I promise you'll love the next chapter that is almost finished...that is if you get to read it. ;D_

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She didn't know what she'd been thinking. Well obviously she hadn't been if she had decided that this was the best course of action. Hermione was currently standing on Platform 9 ¾ staring at the Hogwarts Express. It looked just as brilliant as the last time she'd seen it which had been at the end of her sixth year. The platform itself was much more crowded than she remembered and it drove her towards the last segment of the train. Hermione was thankful for the ability to do magic undetected for it made lugging her trunk around much easier. It was currently in her pocket, allowing her to have her wand hidden up her sleeve in its arm holster.

The overwhelming urge to bolt away from the crowd overtook her and she gave into her claustrophobia heading towards the very end of the train. She found herself standing in front of the last compartment which was blocked by wards. She felt a smile bloom upon her face as her magic started unraveling the spells. It had become a hobby of hers when she was younger, and developed into a skill that became necessary to have for the war. She had realized that she had an affinity for it in her first year. After that discovery, Hermione would seek out different spells around Hogwarts to give her practice to hone her new ability.

She had the diagnostic of the spell in seconds and it was completely unraveled a minute later. She thought it was clever of the caster. They had used a glue charm instead of a locking spell. The majority of people to come across it would have assumed it was a locking spell or a ward. After she was inside, she replaced the spell and sat down after pulling her book out of her satchel. She had decided that she might as well start something to keep her from dying of boredom until she managed to find a way home so she had purchased a copy of all of Jane Austen's books that she could find. Currently she was reading Emma. It had been one of her favorites because of how much the heroine reminded her of herself; especially the portion about Emma being oblivious to Mr. Elton's attentions.

A loud noise occurred behind her, and while it caused her to jump she chose to ignore it. The door then promptly slid open at which she dragged her eyes over to the door. There were three boys staring at her each looking at her with shock and confusion. Hermione stared back at the tallest, whom had messy black hair and glasses. He coincidently was a mirror image of her best friend. She couldn't drag her eyes away from that face and she desperately wanted to hide at the intrusiveness of the three. The shortest started asking her a question that she couldn't focus on enough to hear and process so she could answer.

"How'd you get in here?" The question was uttered again by the shortest one who still had baby fat to his face. She finally managed to drag her eyes away from Harry—no James—to look at the one trying to ask her questions. Unfortunately Hermione didn't manage to do much better with answering. She was immediately swept off her feet to that night in third year when she had first met this man—boy. Peter Pettigrew looked almost adorable at this age—nothing like the disgusting creature that he would turn into later on in his life. She jumped in fright when the third stepped forward with a hand outstretched towards her, despite the polite smile on his face.

Hermione couldn't get over this feeling that she was one hundred percent trapped and she just needed to bolt. She was borderline panicked when she suddenly heard a voice from out in the corridor.

"Why aren't you guys inside the compartment?" A minute later and she saw Sirius push his way inside and then look at her in surprise.

"Hermione?" At the mention of her name, something forced her to move—without her brain authorizing it. The next thing she knew, she was burying her face in his chest and he was hugging her. She didn't care about the fake Harry behind Sirius, or even why she was suddenly so dependent on him. All she was able to focus on was regulating her breathing. She didn't understand why she was suddenly so panicked. Her reactions had never been this bad before. At most she would have to step out of a room, but all of a sudden she felt like she wanted to tear her skin apart to try and escape.

"You're fine." She heard Sirius murmur in her ear. Distantly she heard herself muse about how nice he was to hug.

"What is going on?" She barely heard the question over Sirius' loud shushing of the other boys. He managed to get her seated and sat himself next to her while he eyed the boys to sit down as well. Hermione was thankful when Sirius took command of the conversation and steered it away from embarrassing questions directed towards her. As the train ride wore on Hermione grew more at ease with the group of boys and she felt comfortable enough to join in on the conversation. She had moved slightly away from Sirius, once she'd realized how it must have looked.

"So if you're in Gryffindor how come we've never met you?" James asked nodding at the robes that she already had on. She looked down before looking back to him. it was unnerving to see Harry and hear his voice, yet the tone and manner in which it spoke was nothing like her best friend. It was all confidence, a specific kind as if he knew that he could do no wrong and didn't care if he managed to do so.

"First year," she answered finally tearing her eyes away. She knew that her behavior was strange, but she wasn't sure about how to act differently. What was normal anymore?

"Is that normal?" Peter asked her. She looked out the window, desperately wishing that she had listened to her uncle when he offered to allow her to floo to Hogwarts. Hermione had insisted on taking the train like everyone else.

"It's not unheard of, but it isn't common." She answered. The boys exchanged looks with one another all that expressed frustration with her evasive answers.

"Why didn't you tell me that you were transferring?" Sirius murmured. Hermione looked at him and gave him a small smile—the first one she'd had all morning.

"You did not ask me."

"Wait you two have met before? How?" James asked.

"How else would I have known her name?" Sirius asked him.

"We met through the Weasley's." Hermione answered.

"That family you babysit for?" Remus asked surprised. Sirius nodded.

"How did that connection work out?" The werewolf asked.

"A family member happens to be good friends with Arthur and Molly." Hermione said. The three boys looked straight at Sirius. She resumed her looking out the window, desperately wishing that she could speed up time. As she caught herself wishing, she rolled her eyes and berated herself for wasting such a big request. If there was any way that she could return home she wanted to find it.

She felt herself drift off as she started to dwell on how she could possibly return home. The only problem that she could foresee was the fact that she had no idea what propelled her back in time. In order to find a solution she would have to find the source. It was almost identical to unraveling a spell.

"Hermione," She flinched at the sound of her name. She swallowed a curse as she slammed her knee into the wall. She diverted her gaze to Sirius who had said her name. He nodded his head towards to the door and she realized that the train had stopped. The other boys had already left the compartment and Hermione stood up and followed them.

"Where's your trunk?" Sirius asked. Hermione looked at him before quietly telling him that it was in her purse. She followed him out, feeling as though it would be a great idea to puke. She shuffled after Sirius walking slowly trying to force herself to put one step in front of the other. When they got to the carriages she flinched as one of the horses turned to stare at her before letting out a low keen. Her gaze connected with it as she smiled—that specific thestral happened to be the one that she rode to the ministry in her fifth year. Ever since that trip he had always found Hermione and demanded attention. She had taken to feeding him whenever he came to see her. She was surprised that he was trying to catch her attention at the moment since that theoretically he shouldn't have remembered her since they wouldn't meet until the future.

His keens grew louder until James poked his head out of the carriage and asked what was making the racket. After the fourth one drew Peter's and Remus' attention Hermione walked over to the threstal who immediately nudged her hand with his snout. After she tentatively offered a hand, he pushed against her chest with his muzzle and gave a low keen. Hermione smiled as she became more comfortable with petting him and her shock wore off.

"Oi! Hermione what are you going?" Sirius called giving her a queer look. She looked at him startled before looking at her thestral. Giving him one final pat, she went to join the boys. They were all staring at her again as if she was crazy. She smiled to herself while acknowledging in her head that she was in fact quite crazy in this time era. The carriage ride was quite silent as the boys looked at her and between themselves. It was Peter who finally broke the silence.

"So…what were you doing?" Hermione looked over at him before she answered.

"I was saying hello to a Thestral." She answered. The admission didn't help the staring. In fact it made it worse. Peter looked like he wanted to bolt out of the carriage and run screaming. Remus was staring at her like she had called him a werewolf and said that he was disgusting. James looked at her like she didn't have a head and for some unknown reason she couldn't bear to look at Sirius. The feeling startled her and she wasn't sure as to why it was so strong.

"Thestrals pull the carriages?" James asked finally. Hermione nodded in answer as she tried to stop focusing on Sirius.

"Isn't that unsafe?" Remus asked. Hermione looked at him and raised an eyebrow.

"I mean they're known for being dangerous creatures." He added.

"They're classified by the Ministry as such. You should know that the Ministry is infamous for being prejudice and discriminating against magical creatures. Thestrals are one of several groups that the Ministry has classified as dangerous. It doesn't mean that they are." She ranted suddenly angry that Remus of all people would be misinformed. He should know better. Hermione realized afterwards that her response only made them stare at her more. She sighed heavily, suddenly wishing she hadn't allowed her curiosity to get the better of her and unravel that spell. She could have avoided this entire situation.

Remus looked extremely offended and disturbed. He ended up staring at his lap the rest of the ride. James and Peter sent her a glare and when she looked back at them Peter looked away. The end of the carriage ride couldn't come soon enough and Hermione escaped from the boys with the mutter of a needing to use the restroom. The excuse enabled her to end up sitting away from the marauders.

Hermione was sitting with her back to the wall and closest to the door of the Great Hall. The Marauders had seated themselves in the middle of the table and it was quite alright with her to be sitting by herself. She wanted to groan out loud at her blunder. How could she have been so stupid? To just casually mention the fact that she knew Remus' secret. Well to be fair it could be misconstrued as anything. She never actually mentioned anything about him.

It was during Professor Dumbledore's speech when she suddenly looked up in search of Harry and Ron. Catching sight of James and Sirius quickly deflated her and Hermione felt as though someone had punched her in the gut. How was she going to survive without her boys? She was so preoccupied with the thought that she barely heard the routine, "tuck in." She numbly began collecting food and putting it on her plate, but the second that she had started chewing, she realized that her appetite was gone. Hermione put her fork down and stared at her plate dumbly wondering what the hell she was supposed to do with herself.

She suddenly felt as though she had to be anywhere but in that room. It felt too closeted. There were too many people. Before she knew what she was doing she was out of the Great Hall and in the corridor and then she was on the seventh floor in front of the Room of Requirement. She burst through the door and stared open mouthed. She was standing in the kitchen of Order Headquarters. She felt herself lean against the door and slowly slid down until she was sitting on the floor. Hermione wrapped her arms around her knees and wished that she could just bawl.


	7. Eyes Open

_"So here you are, two steps ahead and staying on guard. Every lesson forms a new scar. They never thought you'd make it this far, but turn around, oh they've surrounded you"._

Hermione finally moved after what seemed like an hour of just sitting there. She looked around the room and sighed. She pushed her hair out of her face and twisted her hands further into it while pulling it—the pain was welcome, it showed her that she could at least feel something. How did it get like this? One minute they were children, going to school and running around laughing. Everything seemed so far away—as if it would never actually turn into reality. The next minute they were in the middle of death. Hermione remembered the Battle of Hogwarts like it was yesterday. Everywhere around her—classmates were dying. They never had a chance. Harry, Ron and she had snuck back into the school in order to locate a horcrux and the next thing they knew the castle was under attack.

Even then, Hermione hadn't accepted the reality of the fact that they might lose. She thought that if they could just get to the next piece and destroy it then they could ultimately win. She had been devastated when she had seen Harry's body motionless. That was what had sealed it for her—it caused everything to sink in and she had spun around in horror only to see death surrounding her. Voldemort had been so enraged that Harry had survived that he slipped up and disappeared before they had their chance at a final showdown. Hermione realized later on that had been his plan all along.

He didn't want to annihilate them from the beginning. He wanted to decimate their numbers so that they would be tortured with the loss. Voldemort didn't want to give them the easier way out. He had learned that there were far more effective ways to destroy his enemies—namely to allow their grief to destroy them. That supposed "Final Battle" of Hogwarts was a distraction. Somewhere along the line Voldemort had learned that he needed a certain number of Wizards and Witches if he wanted a kingdom to rule over. The order hadn't realized what had occurred until they saw how many of their allies were suddenly missing and defecting. He was ruling through fear and other than a select few he had offered immunity if they switched sides.

It was devastating. Even though she knew that she was safer here, Hermione longed to return home just so that she wouldn't lose her mind. The fact that she had another timeline in her head made her feel like she was either crazy or misplaced. It wasn't a good feeling. To make matters worse she had a conflicting desire to just not worry about the future. A small voice in the back of her mind had popped up and suggested that since the future was so far away an option was to just ignore it. Hermione snorted. Ignoring it would only allow it to flourish which is why it occurred in the first place. Too many people who should have stopped it allowed it to continue in the hopes that someone else would be responsible. She wouldn't join that list. That said she was still stuck.

How was she supposed to function? She didn't know why she was here; she didn't understand how she got here. She didn't even know the password to Gryffindor Tower. The whole idea that she was supposed to blend in and make a life here was laughable. How was she supposed to survive as a Dumbledore? Why on earth did Albus seem to think that she was going to be able to do this? She sighed heavily and wanted to just scream at the top of her lungs. There was no control—everything was spiraling out—Hermione felt like she was going crazy. Check that. She was crazy.

At some point she had managed to pull herself together and found herself at the library. She was standing in the forbidden section when she realized where she was at. The brunette started searching for books, anything that might even hint at time travel. She started writing down titles as she found them, not daring to touch them at the moment. When she decided that she should head to the dormitory she had a list of ten books to check out later on. She managed to luck out when she got Gryffindor Tower, there were a few students who opened the portrait hole after loudly saying the password. She briefly wondered about whether or not they would learn in the future to be quiet. It was no wonder that Sirius managed to get in during their third year.

Several students turned to stare at her as she walked inside. Hermione wanted to snap at them, to tell them to mind their own business and stop staring at her. Following her instincts, she kept her mouth shut and headed upstairs to the sixth year girls' dormitory. There was an empty bed in the corner, farthest away from the window and the door. She was thankful for that one being the one to be empty. It would give her the most privacy in the room which she had to share with the other sixth years. Most girls disliked the placement of it—she remembered Lavender and Pavarti always complaining whenever they were stuck with it for the year because it wasn't as easy to gossip with the girls at night. When she was in school, she had always preferred the bed by the window so that she wouldn't be able to oversleep. Now she abhorred the thought that she once slept next to such a indefensible place. She pulled her trunk out of her pocket and set it on the ground before pulling her wand out and restoring it to its' original size.

"So you're the new girl." The comment startled her and she whipped around to find a pretty curly haired redhead staring at her. The girl looked shocked to find herself at the end of a wand and she threw her hands up.

"Whoah, I didn't mean to startle you. I just wanted to introduce myself to you. Lily Evans." Hermione numbly heard the name echo around her mind as she realized that she was pointing her wand at Harry's mum. She lowered her wand embarrassed as Lily looked at her with interest.

"Sorry. My name is Hermione." Harry's mom raised an eyebrow at her and stared. Hermione knew that look—it was one that Ginny loved to display anytime she felt something was suspicious. She had no doubt that she was receiving it because she didn't offer a last name.

"You weren't at the sorting." Lily said her tone emphasizing the obvious statement she had made.

"I was sorted earlier this summer when I officiated my transfer." Hermione said. She looked at Lily for a moment before she deemed that it was safe enough to turn her back on the girl and she opened her trunk so that she could make her bed. She was unable to shake the uneasy feeling that she had as Lily stood there watching her.

"I assume that you'll be a sixth year then." The redhead said again. Hermione nodded as she pulled her pillows out of her trunk and wondered if she was spoke in statements.

"How'd you hear about me?" Hermione asked once she realized that Harry's mom expected her to hold a conversation with her.

"I overheard a few of the boys talking about the new girl. Apparently you're very eccentric." Lily said in a blunt tone. Hermione snorted.

"What don't believe me?" Lily asked. Hermione shook her head.

"I doubt that they chose the word eccentric. I'd be more likely to believe that they called me crazy or weird." Lily laughed and nodded.

"You'd be right." Hermione wanted to turn around and look at her. She had spent some time wondering about Harry's parents and from the stories that she heard she assumed Lily was this really nice girl. Something that they left out was the fact that Lily was blunt and didn't seem to worry about messed up feelings..

"Well I'm going to sleep. It was nice meeting you Lily." Hermione said as she sat down on her bed. Lily grinned at her no doubt noticing her shortness.

"Likewise Hermione. Breakfast is at eight am sharp." The redhead walked over to her own bed in the center of the room and Hermione silently threw up her wards. It had become a habit to protect herself while she slept ever since Harry, Ron and she had gone on their little camping excursion. She pulled the curtains and threw up two more before she finally laid down. She curled up in a ball and laid awake for next five hours.

When she got out of bed the following morning Hermione made sure that she grabbed her uniform and toiletries before making a bee line for the restroom. She took a fifteen minute shower and quickly dressed herself and towel dried her hair as much as possible before pulling her cardigan on over the normal school blouse. She applied a light hair drying charm that she had learned from Pavarti in their sixth year. It was designed for curly hair and helped to prevent frizz. She had fallen in love with it after using it for the first time. When she walked out of her dormitory it was seven fifteen and the common room was empty with the exception of Remus. She stared at him from the bottom of the girls' staircase jumping in fright when he turned to look at her.

"It's rude to stare you know." She nodded and looked down at her feet. Remus sighed heavily.

"I'm not trying to yell at you."

"I know. I'm sorry about what I said yesterday. I didn't mean anything by it. I just get frustrated when people don't know what they're talking about" She said quietly. He looked at her surprised.

"I understand what you mean. People tend to judge others harshly when they don't understand something." Remus said. Hermione felt a small smile tug at her lips. If she didn't look at him, she could almost imagine it being her Remus that was sitting here talking with her. Except that Remus was dead in her time.

"I'm sorry for the way that I reacted." He added at the last minute. Although she had heard footsteps on the boys' staircase she hadn't bothered to look away from her feet.

"Hey Remus have you heard anything else from that mad new girl? She was acting super bizarre wasn't she?" Harry's voice loudly called out. It hurt. Hermione's mouthed dropped open as she registered that she'd heard it in her best friend's voice. It was a comment that Ronald would have been more likely to utter although he would have been perhaps a bit harsher.

She didn't' bother looking at him; instead she opted for just walking out of the common room.

"You're fine Hermione. It wasn't him." She whispered to herself as she walked down towards the Great Hall. Even saying it out loud didn't make her feel better. Rather she felt as though she was about to erupt into tears, but just couldn't. Once she reached the hall she headed straight for Professor McGonagall and asked for her class schedule. Upon receiving it the curly haired brunette walked out of the room and summoned her bag that held her school supplies.

All of the classes that she was enrolled in were advanced. There were seven of them total: Arithmacy, Ancient Runes, Charms, Defensive Against the Dark Arts, Potions, Transfiguration, and Herbology. This morning she had Potions and Arithmacy followed by lunch. In the afternoon her only class was Defense Against the Dark Arts. She had quite a bit of time before Potions started but she had no desire to eat breakfast in the Great Hall. Uttering a loud sigh she summoned a small plate of food before heading down to the classroom.

The room looked as bleak as she remembered it. Hermione entered into the room that was hidden in the dungeons of the castle and was surprised that it was already lit. She found a seat in the back row in the corner that shared a wall with the corridor. Sitting down she started eating the food that she had brought with her. When she heard footsteps heading towards the dungeons she took the opportunity to banish the plate and all crumbs from the area.

"Look what we have here." A slinky voice that was strikingly familiar sounded from the doorway. Hermione looked up to see an old ally that would never have openly admitted to being such an individual.

"I didn't realize that Gryffindors had become so pathetic. At least they would show their faces despite not having friends." He sneered as he walked towards her. Hermione stared at him unsure of how to proceed with a younger version of this man.

"Do you have an inability to speak?" He asked.

"I wasn't aware that all of Hogwarts students were brats. Perhaps our houses have something in common." She said. The look on his face showed that he was surprised by the lack of insult.

"It seems that there is a Gryffindor who is so insignificant I've never seen her before." He sneered trying to regain his footing. She snorted before laughing outright. He looked taken aback by the gesture.

"Never mind the more logical idea that I am new to Hogwarts." She said. He raised an eyebrow at her and she momentarily wondered if he'd learned it from Lily.

"They don't take transfers." He said shaking his head.

"Right because stating something makes it true." Hermione countered.

"Well if you're new you must be lost. This is a potions class room and it's about to start soon. You might want to run along."

"I happen to be enrolled." She said.

"The only potions class this early is the advanced sixth years." He countered. Hermione looked at him and nodded.

"So you transferred and you managed to get enrolled in a closed class?" He asked sounding slightly outraged. Hermione nodded and was unable to suppress a grin.

"Is there a reason that you seem flabbergasted by this development?" She asked amused.

"It's a highly coveted class. Due to it being a bigger year a few students were turned away. They will be upset if they learn about this exception. That is unless of course you actually deserve it, which seems doubtful." He said silkily as he sat his bag down on the table. Hermione looked at him and raised an eyebrow.

"I suppose we'll see whether that is true or not. You may call me Severus." Hermione didn't need the introduction.

"Hermione." She said as students began arriving in the classroom. They sat in silence as students walked in chattering loudly amongst themselves. This was another one of those awkward, surreal moments. She took the opportunity to evaluate the boy sitting next to her. He was surprisingly handsome, wore his hair longer and straight. She had also noticed that he was tall. Hermione for some reason was reminded of Sirius. At the thought she immediately grinned because both men would be horrified at the idea. Speaking of the devil, Sirius and James walked in laughing loudly as they sat down in the middle of the room.

Severus bristled at the sight of them and she looked at the rest of the room only to see everyone enraptured in their conversation. She had always heard from Sirius that he and James were the life of the party, but he had never mentioned that they were in Advanced Potions. That piece of information had gone on unannounced. She wasn't aware she was touching her necklace until Sirius' head suddenly swiveled around and made eye contact with her. She immediately looked down at her lap and dropped her hand.

"I take it you to know each other?" Severus sneered. Hermione nodded.

"We've met. I'm weird apparently." She commented suddenly frustrated and hurt. Hermione shook her head trying to understand where the emotion had appeared from. She was so caught up in her own head that she didn't notice a satisfied smirk on Severus' face and a look of confusion place itself on Sirius'.

"Welcome boys and girls!" Professor Slughorn cried as he entered the room.

"I must say welcome to this year's Advanced Potions. You are the lucky few who have managed to earn high enough scores to qualify for this round. Unfortunately we had too many students who earned a qualifying grade and had to tighten the requirements. Those who sit in this room however are lucky enough to have survived the cuts." The professor started to call the roll out which Hermione learned was his way of extending his "Slug Club" invitations. She started to dread what would happen if he called out her name all of a sudden.

"Hermione Du—"

"Yes! I'm here." She called out cutting him off in sheer panic. A few students turned their heads in surprise at the new name. Professor Slughorn looked absolutely shocked that he'd been cut off. He paused for a moment and then re-read her name to himself. The look he gave her was one of sheer delight and she internally groaned.

"Oh ho! So you're the infamous student that I've heard so much about." He said walking towards the middle of the room. By this time everyone was staring at her. Hermione just wanted to crawl underneath the desk.

"I believe this calls for a challenge. Oh yes. Today you will all complete the Draught of Living Death." The entire room went silent for a moment before erupting into hurried whispers. Severus looked at Hermione sideways and she knew that he was evaluating her.

"He seems quite taken with you." He commented. Hermione didn't answer. She had finally relaxed because if there was anything that she could do it was this potion. Even when she was a sixth year in her own time she'd made an almost perfect potion. She was only beat because Harry cheated. After their excursion with Horcurxes, she had begged Severus to teach her how to brew in his spare time. He cast her aside when she first asked, but she had persisted and was willing to take whatever time he would give her. That was the first potion that they started working on. She could brew it blindfolded and didn't need instructions.

The rest of the lesson continued in silence as students labored over their potions. She was surprised to see that Sirius and James actually took the lesson seriously. Severus finished his potion first, followed quickly by Hermione and Lily. James and Sirius finished at the same time shortly before the rest of the class. While he made a big deal about Lily's product he became absolutely speechless at Hermione's and Severus' saying that they were actually perfect. He then used the opportunity to invite her to join the Slug Club.

"I can't believe you said no." Severus said as they walked out of the dungeons. Hermione rolled her eyes at his tone. It was the third time that he had said it.

"I mean no one says no to those invitations! They help you make connections while you're still at school." He said.

"He only does it so that he can try to steal the fame and prosperity later on in life." Hermione pointed out.

"I actually want to enjoy my time in Hogwarts, and that doesn't sound like fun to me. Not to mention he only seems to be collecting individuals who he deems are worthy. It seemed based on lineage for the most part. It's just not my thing." She said as they reached the main hall. Both students were pleased to find out that they were in the same charms class. Severus happened to be in all of her classes since he was also on the advanced track.

"Oi Hermione! You might want to hang out with your own house!" She looked up to see Harry—No James—giving her a very specific look. It was weird to see it on her best friend's face. She rolled her eyes at the supposed silent 'check yourself before your wreck yourself" message on his face.

"Sorry! I'm too abnormal for the likes of you!" She called back. If she was going to follow Minerva's advice then she was going to decide just who she would be friends with and she wasn't going to deal with anyone who wanted to be a jerk.


	8. Provoking Jealousy

"Hermione!" The brunette looked over to see Lily standing in front of her. The redhead had her hands on her hips and she looked as mad as a hatter.

"Hello." Hermione said cautiously. Lily looked around before she focused her gaze back on the new sixth year.

"I noticed that you made a new friend this week." Lily practically spat out the phrase. Hermione looked at Harry's mom surprised that this was bothering her this much. She had figured that it would take her at least a month before she issued a warning of the guy and that it would be in a very soft tone. She hadn't thought that it'd be before the end of the week. The brunette had never dreamed that she'd be this angry.

"I did." Hermione said as she started writing her essay again. Lily made a noise in the back of her throat that conveyed her frustration with being ignored.

"Severus seems sweet at first, but I can assure you that he is nothing more than a viper." Lily said harshly. Hermione put her quill down and looked at Lily in silence. She didn't say anything and waited until the other girl grew uncomfortable.

"I'm just trying to help you out." She said after a moment. Hermione continued to look at her and she was unable to help but wonder if she would have freaked out if anyone else had befriended Severus.

"Are you upset about the fact that I befriended a Slytherin or Severus?" Hermione asked coolly. Lily had the decency to at least look slightly abashed before she began mumbling under her breath.

"I suspect that it's largely the latter, because everything that I've heard about you suggests that you support inner-house unity. You aren't upset at the fact that I befriended Severus. You're mad at the fact that he wanted to be friends with me." Hermione said as it suddenly clicked in her head. Lily hadn't expected Severus to show that he seemed to like Hermione. Knowing what she did about Severus she couldn't say she was exactly surprised. Lily looked irritated and crossed her arms over her chest.

"He hides it well, but he holds our kind in contempt. One day when you least expect it he will let that show. I only hope you will heed my warning." She said as she caught sight of Severus walking over to the two. Lily left before he joined them with another glare at Hermione. She watched her with a raised eyebrow. She was no doubt referring to the end of their fifth year, but Hermione was surprised at the link Lily made between the two of them. She paused wondering just how the redhead knew that she was muggleborn.

"Hey." Severus dropped his bag on the table next to her books startling Hermione.

"Sorry I didn't mean to scare you." He said looking at her as though he were concerned. She muttered to him that he shouldn't worry about it.

"So what's the story between you and Lily?" She blurted out. Severus' raised an eyebrow at her.

"Nothing. Evans is a bleeding-heart Gryffindor and I'm a Slytherin." He said as he pulled his parchment towards him.

"I find that hard to believe on account of the fact that she just verbally accosted me over you. So spill—what's the story." Hermione said while eyeing him with curiosity. Severus started writing without bothering to look at her.

"Severus I'm not going to let this go. The girl threatened me because of you." That got his attention. He looked at her and then sighed heavily while pinching the bridge of his nose.

"We were friends. We got into a fight. Now we're not friends." He said after a moment.

"One fight?" She asked skeptically. He nodded and she could feel the regret radiating off of him.

"She doesn't seem like much of a friend." Hermione said bluntly. Severus' eyes shot to hers and he glared at her.

"You get into one fight and she drops you? A large part of friendships is a little thing known as forgiveness." Hermione pointed out.

"Not everything is forgivable. Just because you apologize for something doesn't mean it makes it okay!" Severus hissed.

"Forgiveness isn't about saying what you did was alright. It's about saying, 'I am ready to move beyond what happened." Hermione said looking Severus dead in the eye.

"It's about saying the person who is seeking forgiveness is either worth more to you or the entire thing isn't worth your time. It is never about saying what they did was wrong." Hermione said seriously.

"Some actions—" Severus began.

"Severus unless you murdered her first born I'm quite sure that you're all over reacting." Hermione said as she started writing a few more words.

"I called her a mudblood." Severus hissed. Hermione looked at him for a moment but before she could say anything he started talking.

"She tried to defend me from Black and Potter during one of their bully sessions. I repaid her by calling her that vile name. So she has every right to hate me." Severus was staring at her and Hermione rolled her eyes.

"That's it?" She asked amused. Severus recoiled at her dismissal and proceeded to stare at her before sputtering out his response.

"What do you mean that's it?" He spat at her. Severus was glaring at her with a very ugly look upon his face. If she hadn't known him in the future she would have recoiled. However she knew that showing fear to Severus over something so silly wasn't the way to earn his respect.

"It's a name." She said with a shrug.

"You're remorseful about it, and therefore the fact that she's holding a grudge over the situation shows how childish she is behaving." Hermione said before turning back to her essay. She knew that she was infuriating him, but she needed to get Severus to understand that Lily wasn't worth losing his life to the service of the Dark Lord. It wasn't something that was going to occur after one conversation, but it was necessary that she start planting the seeds. After all even if she managed to get back, it would be best to ensure that he stayed on their side.

"So you're saying that if someone called you a mudblood you wouldn't care?" He hissed. Hermione shook her head.

"No. I'm saying that if it happened once, I would take into consideration how long we had been friends and whether or not that individual showed remorse." Hermione answered.

"It isn't something to drop someone out of your life over. There are more important things than petty childish fights that you'll have to deal with—things that will actually be life or death." She said staring at him.

"In those instances you have to survive and look after you. Don't make a stupid decision because someone else tells you that you are worthless. Especially when they are holding a grudge over a silly mistake." Her voice had dropped down to a low murmur as she looked Severus in the eye. He stared back at her before he shrugged off the arm she had placed on his forearm.

"You Gryffindors are all the same, bleeding hearted and sentimental." He grouched before turning back to his essay. Hermione grinned as she allowed the discussion to be ended. The conversation had gone better than she had expected.

As the first weekend of the term arrived, Hermione breathed a sigh of relief. Her classes had started out with a very light load with the exception of her transfiguration essay that she and Severus had been working on together. In true Hermione fashion—as Ron and Harry liked to call it—she had finished her work that was due the following Monday by Friday evening and she was looking forward to just trying to relax.

She had hoped that as the week progressed everything would just get easier. It in fact did not. There seemed to be this strange connection between herself and Sirius. Anytime that he wasn't around her, she felt as though she wasn't able to breathe properly. Then there would be these bizarre moments when she'd randomly look up and her eyes would lock onto his immediately. She didn't know what to make of it. For the most part Hermione very firmly ignored it. She didn't know what else to do with it.

Currently she was heading down to dinner from Gryffindor Tower. Hermione had dropped her books off in her trunk before resealing the wards around her bed and on her trunk. She had retrieved Emma by Jane Austen so that she could read while she ate. She was in an empty corridor when she heard voices not very far in front of her. As she drew near enough to make out their words clearly, the topic forced her to stop.

"He's going to do the same thing to her that he did to me. You know how he is—how he's been ever since he started befriending the other Slytherins. I tried warning her and she just brushed me off." The voice without a doubt belonged to Lily Evans.

"That's her choice." The response was masculine and it was one that Hermione had known since her third year. Remus Lupin.

"She doesn't understand!" Lily protested.

"It's still not up to you. Lily I've seen him with her. He's polite and hasn't given any indication that the same thing will happen. People do learn from their mistakes. You have to remember that she's new here and he is the first person to really befriend her. Why would she be willing to let that go when she doesn't know you?" Remus pointed out.

"Severus changed! He hates mudbloods just like the rest of them! She's no different! Hermione thinks that by hiding her last name from other people that the school won't know? Everyone knows that she's muggleborn. She's stupid if she thinks otherwise." Lily practically yelled.

"Evans why do you care so much?" Hermione had walked up on the two who both looked absolutely horrified. When Lily didn't answer Hermione rolled her eyes and pushed passed them. She didn't get an answer and quite frankly she didn't care. At the rate that this year was going, she was beginning to wonder if perhaps Harry was better off without his parents. She sat by herself at Gryffindor table, on the right side nearest to the door. It was a little early for dinner so she sat down and started reading.

"Hermione." The girl in question slowly lowered her book and looked up to see Harry's dad sitting in front of her.

"Hi," she said cautiously. He didn't say anything for a moment. As they sat there both looking at each other, Hermione suddenly just wanted to cry about the fact that this boy sitting in front of her wasn't Harry.

"Listen this is going to be a bit awkward." He started to say. Hermione raised an eyebrow at him wondering what was going on.

"You need to lay off Evans a bit." James said. Hermione wasn't expecting that suggestion.

"She's really upset about the whole Snivelus issue and quite frankly you don't need to make her feel awful about it. I understand that she said something to you about him a day or two ago and you kind of blew up at her. All I'm really asking for is you to just kind of leave her alone." James said with a nod. The expression on his face told Hermione that he expected her to just go along with his plan.

"I'm afraid I don't really understand how her being upset is my fault." Hermione said quietly. Had James ever heard a fight between Ronald and Hermione before he would have known that he was in for a very rude awakening.

"Lily is extremely caring and she just doesn't want to see you hurt. The way you've been acting towards her has really just hurt her feelings. She was only trying to help." James said. Sirius suddenly joined them sitting down next to James with a yawn.

"Sitting over here now?" He asked James with a nod to Hermione to say hello. James nodded yes back and then looked at Hermione again.

"So we cool?" He asked nonchalantly. Hermione looked at him and was somehow not surprised to see that he genuinely thought that she would just open her mouth and agree to everything he had just told her to do. She felt as though she were about to puke.

"I suppose you're on his side." She said icily to Sirius who immediately looked up confused before turning to Potter. He opened his mouth to reply but she cut him off.

"You're an ass. Next time mind your own damn business. For the record she is the one badmouthing me." Hermione said to Potter. She pushed back the bench, book in hand, and climbed to her feet. Just as she stood the food appeared on the table. The boys watched as she left both quite stunned at the fact that she had the nerve to speak to them like that. As she passed the threshold the food in front of them exploded.

"You want to tell me what the hell you just did?" Sirius growled.

Hermione was pacing in front of the Room of Requirement desperately thinking of a very specific room. It had to be secret. It had to give her the knowledge that she so desperately needed and she had to be able to take notes. The door that opened was a beautiful heavy oak. Upon opening it up she felt as though she were Belle from Beauty and the Beast. She was standing in an enormous library—floor to ceiling, wall to wall bookshelves. She practically ran to the nearest one and started staring at the titles. They were all about time travel. Now if only she had some food. Hermione grabbed several books at once before turning around to look for a chair. To her delight there was an enormous oak table that not only had parchment and ink, and a house elf who asked what type of food she could retrieve for her.


	9. Rumors

_I leave Thursday. I'm leaving the country so that means no computer. I won't be working on this at all until the end of the month. So if you'd like another update before Thurs, you'll need to let me know!_

Hermione yawned. Her eyes burned and her hand was cramped beyond belief. She stretched her arms above her head and arched her back. She had found absolutely nothing of worth—all of her research and nothing to show for it. She stood up and banished all of the notes that she had taken. She walked to the doorway and grasped the handle. Before pulling it open she looked around the room.

_Erase it all._

As that last thought slid across her brain she opened and stepped out into the hallway.

"Hey Sprite." She jumped at Sirius' voice despite the fact that she had looked directly at him once the door had shut behind her. She swiveled around to make sure the door was gone and thankfully it was no longer there.

"What are you doing here?" Hermione asked nearly flinching at the nickname that he used for her. He shrugged and stepped away from the wall where he had been leaning.

"I went to look for you after that dinner fiasco. Imagine my horror when I realized that you didn't return to the common room at all that night. My worry only increased the next day when no one had seen you or heard from you. According to Evans you didn't even sleep in your own bed. You've been cooped up here for three days." Sirius said.

"I fail to see your point." Hermione said. Sirius looked at her, his gaze fluttering to the pearl necklace she was wearing.

"You my dear Sprite are an enigma. I wanted to apologize for Prongs' behavior. He gets pretty stupid when it comes to her. He always wants to be the hero." Sirius said as he took a step closer to her.

"Why are you calling me Sprite?" Hermione asked trying to keep her voice steady. It was a bit too much to hear it from this version of Sirius. This one didn't know her, the one who hadn't earned the right to call her by that particular nickname. At her question Sirius seemed to falter. A look of confusion crossed over his face and he looked at her while cocking his head to the right.

"It just seems to fit. Quite honestly it just popped into my head. Why you don't like it?" He said after a moment. Hermione felt her body fall backwards against the wall behind her. She suddenly felt the need to run far away.

"Hermione?" He asked after a moment. She looked at him unsure of what she should say.

"I am sorry about James and his behavior. He can be a bit of prat sometimes. We all can; especially Evans." Hermione looked at him and realized that if he took another step he would box her in. She pushed herself back to her feet and sidestepped him.

"It's fine." She said as she started walking away. Sirius snagged her right wrist and spun her around. She spun gasping as she fell into him, her hands on his chest. They both stared at each other.

"No it isn't." He said softly. Hermione gulped as she stared at him. There was no missing the fact that he was staring at her mouth.

"He's down this hallway!" The two tore apart from one another as they heard Peter's voice. Hermione felt her arm trembling as she blushed furiously. She took a deep breath to clear her face as Peter, Remus, and James joined them.

"Hermione." Potter said darkly. She looked at him and raised an eyebrow.

"Sirius, we've been looking everywhere for you mate." Peter said not registering the tension between the two ringleaders and Hermione.

"Oh?" Sirius asked not looking away from Hermione. She was forcing herself to not pull her wand out as she subtly shifted her weight away from the Marauders. The action shifted her naturally into a defensive stance.

"Yeah remember that we had plans?" James said looking over at him. His tone was suggestive as was the glance that he shot his friend.

"Oh right." Sirius said suddenly laughing.

"You forgot." Remus said grinning. It wasn't a question and Sirius chuckled while nodding.

"Well we need to be going. You should probably actually sleep in your dorm tonight. Breaking curfew is against the rules not to mention rumors might get started about where you're spending the night." James interjected looking at Hermione.

"Excuse me?" Hermione asked darkly. The air crackled around her as her magic swirled. Remus looked at James warily—obviously able to read the signs of uncontrolled magic. Peter had stepped backwards in anticipation and Sirius stared at her worried.

"What James means—" Sirius tried to interject.

"You stayed out of the dorm for the entire weekend. It's not difficult to read between the lines. You obviously have something going on with Snivelus." James said not sensing that he should keep his mouth shut. Hermione lost it as his meaning washed over her.

"How dare you! It is astounding how idiotic you are." She yelled. Her wand was in her hand before she realized it. With a quick flick her infamous yellow canaries were circling overhead. Even that sudden action wasn't enough to tempt James into backing down.

"Don't blame me for the fact that you feel the need to sleep with Slytherins because of your feeling inadequate about your blood status. It's not something that anyone in Gryffindor would care about!" James shot back. Hermione's eyes teared up as she grew angrier and her magic started shaking. The birds soared towards James in one angry mass. Peter yelped and backed away as he threw up a shield charm for himself. Remus tried to help James fight off the birds as Sirius stared at Hermione in sheer amazement.

"I am not sleeping with anyone and even if I were it wouldn't be anyone's business." She hissed angrily and the birds seemed to feed off of her magic that radiated in the air. Before anyone could stop her, Hermione spun on her heel and disappeared down the corridor. She went straight for Gryffindor Tower and once in the common room she looked angrily around the room until she saw that familiar curly red hair.

"Evans." The anger in her voice no doubt was what caused Lily to turn around and look at her. The entire common room had gone silent.

"I quite frankly don't want to know why in the hell you started spreading rumors about me. I don't care, but it stops here. Who I befriend is my business. I have done nothing to offend you and yet you have decided to behave like a child. The next time that you decide to start gossiping about my whereabouts, I will be sure to repay in kind. After all you and Potter looked obviously chummy when you exited that broom closet yesterday evening." Hermione didn't say anything else. She turned and walked straight up to her dorm room silently cheering at the fact that Lily's face was absolutely ashen. The moment she disappeared from sight up the staircase, she could hear the uproar from the common room.

When she slipped into the dormitory she was quite relieved to see that it was empty. Harry's parents were driving her nuts. How had they ever earned the description as extremely nice? It seemed as though everyone put them on a pedestal after their deaths. She shook her head trying to rid the thoughts from her mind. She felt guilty towards Harry for thinking so poorly of his parents. Shoving away all of her feelings on the subject, Hermione collected her toiletries from her trunk; made sure the wards were complete over her things and went to take a much needed shower. She took her time; just letting the water wash over her and wishing that she could erase everything with the water.

Lily was waiting for her when she emerged from the restroom. The redhead was sitting on her bed and she looked surprised that Hermione had her wand in her hand.

"You take your wand into the restroom with you?" She asked. Hermione nodded. Lily didn't push the subject further. Hermione finally just decided that it would be best to walk past Lily and get ready for bed. She was exhausted from the stress and adrenaline that had been dominating her system.

"Hermione, listen we need to talk." Lily said quietly. Hermione turned and shook her head.

"I don't really have anything that I want to discuss tonight. I am exhausted and I want to go to sleep. We can talk tomorrow." She said as she put her stuff away.

"No. We're going to talk now." Lily said firmly.

"You showed up out of nowhere and immediately befriended an individual who used to be my closest friend. He is extremely picky in those that he lets hang out with him and it hurt immensely when within one class you two seemed to have bonded. I grew irritated." Lily explained.

"I apologize for losing my head, but I meant what I said. Severus is not someone that you want to be friends with especially when you're muggleborn. You haven't had to deal with the discrimination, but its there. Eventually it will crop up and bite you in the ass." The redhead said bluntly.

"I take it that Severus and Potter have never been friends?" Hermione asked although she already knew the answer. Lily looked surprised at the line of questioning but she nodded her head.

"Sirius James, and Severus have always hated each other. It used to be something that the four of us fought over. They would pick fights with us, we would retaliate. It's always been pretty bitter." Lily said. Hermione nodded before pulling the covers away from the bed and sitting down.

"I am sorry for the way I handled everything." Lily said. Hermione looked at her and noticed that while she was remorseful, she knew that she would have done it again.

"Okay." Hermione answered.

"That's it?" Lily asked surprised. Hermione raised an eyebrow.

"I just apologized for what I did to you; typically the tradition is to do the same." The redhead said.

"I'm not sorry, so why should I apologize? You were the one who provoked me and quite frankly I just said something that I knew would bother you. I didn't say it because it was true. You admitted to it yourself with the way you reacted." Hermione said bluntly.

"Goodnight." She added after a moment before throwing up her wards.

Lily and the Marauders ignored her for the following week. Severus had proceeded to tease Hermione about how he had to continuously rebuff her advances. His best one was when he yelled dramatically, "The library? Really Hermione is nowhere safe?" She had erupted into giggles, not caring that those around them had started watching them. More students had started openly staring at her, with a few coming up and actually asking if the rumors were true. She put an end to that really quick. It was week three of the term and Hermione had just showed up for Defense Against the Dark Arts. As per usual Severus save her a seat next to him.

"So why is today's lesson twice as long and in the Great Hall?" She asked as she joined him at the lone table in the room. Severus shrugged in answer.

"Carmichael apparently requested to use the Great Hall twice a term. Since it's his first year no one is really sure what to expect. Although it looks like our entire year is here today." Severus said. He instantly turned his face into a sneer when the Marauders sat down a few spaces down. Hermione's eyes shot up and she locked gazes with Sirius.

"Welcome sixth years!" Professor Carmichael said as the Great Hall doors shut. The heavy doors made a tremendous thud which tore Hermione's attention away from Sirius as she jumped in fright. Glaring angrily at herself, she finally started to focus on what her professor was saying.

"I am happy to announce that the school's Board of Governors have approved an unconventional teaching practice. Today we will be beginning dueling lessons." The professor looked excited and the students erupted into whispers at the idea. Hermione felt as though someone had punched her in the gut, dumped a large bucket of ice water over her head, and wanted to puke simultaneously. It was overwhelming and she was thankful that she was sitting down.

"Hermione? What's wrong?" Severus asked looking at her concerned. She shook her head unable to form words. He watched her warily, no doubt afraid that she'd fall off the bench or something.

"Do you need a calming draught?" He muttered under her breath. She shook her head—_No Potions_—even in her own time she refused to take them. Hermione was too afraid of becoming dependent upon them.

"I'm fine." She muttered.

"I thought you all would enjoy this. Now I need everyone to pay careful attention to the rules. You will be on teams of six and you will have an objective that you have to reach. Some of your objectives will be to do nothing more than cause mayhem—others will have specific missions. Depending upon whether or not your objective is reached will determine if your team progresses to the next round. In order to succeed every member of your team must reach the end.

"The further into the rounds that you make it the harder each one will become. There will be more targets, more individuals to face." Professor Carmichael warned with a grin.

"I suppose that I should give you a hint of what is to come. In specific rounds there will be traps—if your team members fall prey to them, the others will have to rescue them before the mission can succeed. Any questions?" Professor Carmichael asked as several dozen hands shot into the air.

"Your teams have already been chosen." He added with a chuckle as the possible questions decreased dramatically. Hermione wasn't able to focus on any of them as she tried to process what was about to happen. This was too much. It was too close to the Final Battle—running around the Great Hall as Harry battled Voldemort, watching as Fred died. This wasn't going to go well, even if it was just pretend. She sat there, numb as they began to announce the teams. Everything seemed to blur together in one giant mix. Severus nudged her arm suddenly and she looked at him dazed. He pulled her attention to their new teammates. Upon seeing them, Hermione suddenly felt like puking—somewhere the universe was laughing.

Whomever had thought it a good idea to put Lily Evans, James Potter, Sirius Black and Severus Snape on a team must really have a death wish.


	10. Aalis

_This is a special treat for those who requested that I update before I leave tomorrow. I desperately need to pack...although I'm considering writing more instead. I'm super pumped about this scenario, but please let me know if it isn't working or if it's too gimmicky. I'm not sure where ti came from so if it needs to be reworked I need to be informed. Please, please, please go into details about what you love in this story!_

_There is a special portion written especially for noodleloverxDDD. Let me know what you think. Also if anyone has a guess as to what they're looking for, I would love to hear about it. =] Enjoy!_

_Aalis_

* * *

_I'm freakin' out. Where am I now? Upside down and I can't stop it now. It can't stop me now. Ohhh_

"Dear God, please tell me this is a joke." She moaned before burying her face in her hands. Hermione rubbed her eyes furiously before looking up. They were all still standing in front of her and awkwardly looking away from one another.

"I suppose we should discuss strategy?" Remus said after a moment. James and Sirius shot him aggravated looks while Lily rolled her eyes.

"What's the point?" Hermione asked.

"To pass the class?" The werewolf said raising his eyebrows at her. The rest of the group turned to look at her. Hermione snorted with a shake of her head.

"Yeah right. No matter what plan we decide on it won't work. None of us like each other and are more likely to turn on our teammates than opponents." She said looking pointedly at Sirius and James.

"Oi! What are you trying to say?" James asked angrily.

"I'm not 'trying' to say anything. I'm saying that I would love to curse you." She said with a roll of her eyes.

"Everyone here can say that about someone else with the exception of maybe Remus." Hermione added. She rubbed her forehead between her eyes as she sat there.

"Surely we can be civil enough to actually get a decent grade." Lily said after a moment as she shot a look at Severus. Hermione looked up at her and then at Remus.

"We're going to need something to find common ground on." Sirius said. Hermione tried to ignore him as he stared at her.

"We don't have any common ground with those two." James growled with a jerk of his head towards Hermione and Severus.

"Grow up Potter." Hermione hissed back. Severus cleared his throat, commanding all eyes on him.

"We do, however, have an incessant need to win." The Slytherin said. Hermione's eyes lit up. She looked at Sirius who grinned slightly at her. Both Potter and Sirius looked at each other interestedly before turning their attention back to Severus.

"Each of us trusts at least one other person in this group. I propose that we pair up in partners, that way we minimize the need to hex some of our less than favorable teammates." Severus said looking at James. Harry's dad flushed before looking away angrily.

"It's not a bad idea. Who are the pairs going to be?" Remus said after a moment of thinking about it. The others looked at each other and started sizing one another up.

"Severus and myself, Remus and Lily, James and Sirius." Hermione answered.

"Wait a moment." Sirius said suddenly. Hermioen turned to look at him.

"I don't like the idea of you going off with Snivelus." He said staring at her.

"His name is Severus. If you can't be respectful, then I will hex you the second our turn starts and sabotage all of our grades." Hermione said angrily. She was getting really sick of all this stupidity.

"Now these are the only logical teams that make sense. Who else are you going to pair me up with?" She asked when she saw that he was going to argue. Lily and Remus had also indicated that they were about to start arguing with her sabotage comment.

"You? Who would partner with James? I don't trust any of you far enough to throw you without magic." She said bluntly. All of her fellow Gryffindors looked at her as if she'd just slapped them in the face. She didn't need to turn around and look at Severus to know that he was smirking.

"Fine." Sirius muttered after a moment.

"How are we even going to know what to do?" Lily asked.

"You won't. Stick with your partners, and guard their back. That's the only way this will work." Hermione snapped. The group turned to stare at her in surprise. She was rubbing her forehead again, praying that the headache that she had would go away. She really hated duels.

"Hermione if you need to sit this out, I'm sure they'll let you." Remus said gently. He held his hands up when she glared at him sharply. She advanced on him with her wand, poking him in the chest.

"I don't need to sit out. I don't need someone to hold my hand. Mind your own damn business." She growled. Hermione knew deep down that she was acting unreasonably. It wasn't as if Harry's dad or Sirius had said it, but at the same time it still stung. She had to be normal. She had to be strong. Hermione became so lost in her thoughts that Severus had to direct her towards the side of the hall, where a stair case had appeared. For the duration of the event, the Great Hall had created a balcony for the students and teachers to sit and observe.

The first round was a race. The twenty four teams were split into twelve rounds and had to achieve their goal first. Hermione watched without seeing the rounds. The sounds blended together as she sat there numbly. It seemed like it was only five minutes later that it was their turn. Severus directed her down to the newly created arena.

"Your task is to locate a sacred object before the opposing team." Professor Carmichael said cheerfully. The six teenagers looked around at one another each questioning the statement silently.

"You must catch that which is impossible to ensnare, that which is impossible to stop, that which is impossible to transcend." He said cryptically.

"Any questions?" the professor asked.

"Are we chasing the same thing as previous students?" Lily asked. The Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor smiled and shook his head.

"Each task has been unique thus far. No repeats." He answered.

"Is the other team chasing the same object?" Remus asked him.

"Yes." The professor said.

"Did you give them the same clue." Sirius asked. He nodded in answer.

"What is in the arena?" Severus asked quietly.

"Traps, a few monsters, nothing that is too much for sixth years to handle." Professor Carmichael said grinning. He disappeared before they could ask another question. Severus reached out for Hermione and pulled her towards him, to make sure that she stated near him.

"How are we supposed to work with a nutter?" James whispered furiously to Sirius and Remus with a nod to Hermione. She swiveled her head and stared at him angrily. Before she realized what she was doing, Hermione was standing in front James and her fist was slamming into his face.

"Bloodyfuckinghell!" He screamed as Sirius grabbed Hermione before she could land another. He pinned her arms against her sides, pulling her against his chest firmly.

"I am not crazy." She hissed at him. Lily had her hands over her mouth while James was bent over moaning in pain.

"Merlin Hermione." Sirius muttered in her ear. James finally was able to straighten up and everyone saw the blood trickling down his face. Lily started healing him while she shot glares at Hermione. Sirius steered the "little firecracker" as he had dubbed her, away and towards Severus.

"Sprite I must insist on you not damaging my partner seconds before we start a massive dueling competition," Sirius murmured in her ear. She didn't understand why she felt so comfortable with Sirius' arms around her. It was as though she had this urge to stay there forever. It was then that they were thrown into the arena and she had to leap towards Severus.

She was reminded oddly of the third task in the Triwizard Tournament. There was a maze standing in front of them although it wasn't made out of hedges. This particular one was made out of what appeared to be cherry wood panels. There were three different entrances with no indication as to which was the way they should take. Hermione turned swiftly to the other five students.

She had pulled out the small brown leather bag that she had kept on her person at all times. Unlike the pink purse that she carried when she, Harry, and Ron were on the run this one was a small, brown leather bag—about the same size—that she carried on her person at all times with a invisibility spell on as well as several undetectable extension charms. It couldn't be summoned by anyone other than herself either.

"If we get into trouble use these." Hermione said opening it up and retrieving three galleons. She had decided that it was better to be safe than sorry, and had gone ahead to make replicas of the old D.A.'s communication methods. In addition to the original spells that she used, she had added a location track charm. It would allow them to find the holder—much like a summoning charm and nothing was able to impede that ability.

She handed one to each pair, and tried to ignore their stares.

"What are we supposed to do with Galleons?" Lily asked looking at hers skeptically.

"They enable us to talk to one another. If you need help just hold your wand to it and say the word. If you get a distress call then you can answer it by pressing your thumb to the center. It will transport you there—like a portkey kind of; so make sure you take your partner. They'll be necessary at the end when we need to meet up." She explained hurriedly.

"The round begins now." The announcement boomed across the Great Hall—not that it looked like it anymore—and Hermione dragged Severus to the farthest entrance on the right. All six entered in to the various openings, and Hermione wasn't surprised when the entrances slammed shut behind them. Her wand was out as she turned around to make sure that no one was following them.

"Stay away from the walls," she muttered to Severus who nodded grimly.

"How do they expect us to complete this if we don't know what to look for?" He asked hurriedly.

"I don't think they do."

The further into the maze they pushed, the more and more that Hermione was reminded of Alice in Wonderland. It was uncanny how much the décor resembled it. They entered the first room that they came to and abruptly stopped. .

"Oh my." She said. The room was circular and deteriorating. The floor was checkered black, and what appeared to be a yellow that had originally been white. The walls were in a similar state with a tapestry dangling awkwardly. It was ripped and burned. There were four doors and a hole in the floor. Off to the right of the room there was a glass table.

"You have got to be kidding me." She muttered. Severus looked at her sideways before he started examing the room. He ran a few diagnostic spells on each door.

"Why does this look so familiar?" He asked as he ran a few diagnostic spells on the hole in the floor.

"It's the original room from Alice in Wonderland." She answered as she stepped towards the glass table.

"Is Chess going to appear at any second?" He asked with a chuckle. She looked up surprised that he knew of the story. She never got the chance to answer as a loud feminine scream sounded from behind her. She whipped around with her wand in the lead to see Severus frozen as he watched a tiny black haired woman cower on the floor. Hermione stared at the woman—her hair was thin and graying and she looked like she hadn't eaten in weeks.

"What have I told you about that magic you abomination?" A man towered over her before turning his attention to Severus.

"You're no better than her. Sniveling coward, abomination, I should kill you." He hissed as he stepped forward. Hermione watched as Severus coward in front of the man. She watched wide eyed as she stared at the girl on the floor.

"Severus," she whispered.

"It isn't real. It's a boggart." Severus showed no sign of a reaction. She made to make a step forward to help him when he suddenly reacted.

"Ridikkulus!" The man suddenly fell backwards into the hole and Severus chuckled slightly. He turned around to talk to Hermione.

"So which door?" He asked. She looked down at the glass table and wasn't surprised to see a small vial of potion and a key. She picked it up and looked at him.

"What did your diagnostic spells reveal from the other doors?" She asked him.

"They're all locked and the only open path is behind the tapestry." He answered. She glared down at the key and potion in her hands.

"Fuck that." She said before turning to the white door on her right. It wasn't as tall as the rest of the doors, but she didn't need to take a potion to get through it. Severus tried to say something but wasn't able to before she shot a blasting charm at the door. A loud sucking noise sounded and she turned in horror—her thick curls soaring out behind her head as her eyes connected to Severus'. She threw a summoning spell at him as she flew backwards through the doorway.

She landed on the ground hard. Her head slamming backwards onto the floor. Pain blinded her, before exploding as a very hard object was propelled on top of her at a high velocity. Upon hearing a very masculine groan she assumed it to be Severus. She wasn't able to move with his added weight, but she leaned back as far as possible and looked upside down at the room.

"Severus…." She said quietly. He groaned before climbing to his feet and helping her up.

"How—?" He asked staring around the room. They were standing in the same room, except that the white door appeared as it originally did prior to her blasting spell.

"Shall we try door number two?" She asked determined not to take that potion that was in her bag.

"Hermione, why don't you want to take the door we both know that we're going to end up using?" Severus asked.

"Have you read the book recently? I'm not getting trapped in Wonderland! It might be my favorite fairy tale but it isn't happening." She declared.

"The rest of the doors have the same diagnostic result as the white one. We need to just accept that it's the only way." He didn't need to emphasize the word "we" in his statement. He had accepted it, and he thought that she needed to as well. Hermione looked at him and then at the tapestry that was revealing the tiny door. She smirked at him and he sighed heavily. She threw another blasting charm, coupled with a shield charm to protect from eh same reaction. When a pathway appeared Hermione grinned at him.

"Think outside the box!" she said grinning as she stepped through the opening. Severus rolled his eyes at her as he followed. They walked down another hallway, this one had the same yellowing walls, but had ivy clinging to it. It appeared to be endless, but as they moved further into it's depths they began to hear footsteps and hushed voices. They looked at one another worriedly before taking defensive stances. Hermione braced herself for a fight.

* * *

_Song lyrics: Avril Lavigne "Alice"_


	11. Pitfalls and Stumbles

_Hello again! I am busy getting ready to move (or procrastinating). It depends on how you see it. This is without doubt my personal favorite of all the chapters I have written thus far in this fiction. I couldn't leave the story alone while I was on vacation. :D Please let me know (in detail) what you think about it! I would love to hear ideas about what you guys think they're trying to find. IF you guys want me to update soon you'll have to let me know what you think about this chapter!_

_Enjoy!_

_Aalis_

* * *

_I think I'm drowning_ _asphyxiated. __I wanna break this spell_ _that you've created._

"What do we have here?" Hermione and Severus watched as a group of three students rounded the corner. They all had their wands at the ready and were eyeing the two of them with what appeared to be a sickening interest of having a fight.

"Looks like a mudblood and a blood traitor." One of the boys said with a sneer. He stepped closer as he eyed Hermione with something much akin to the look that Fenrir had often given his female victims before chasing them to their death.

"Rabastan you're slipping with your insults." Severus said with a tone that screamed of boredom. The boy in question snapped his eyes immediately to Snape's. His wand soon followed. Hermione's eyes widened as she realized that this was one of the infamous Lestrange Brothers. Rabastan loudly casted a blasting charm in Severus' direction which Severus didn't have to move more than his head to dodge out of the way. Hermione was horrified to see that he was so quick with spells that her shielding charm wasn't raised in time. It was also incredibly shocking to her that this man—boy—had absolutely no aim.

"I can see why they put you in Hufflepuff." Severus said silkily. Hermione felt her galleon heat up in her pocket as Severus' quip was rewarded with another loud blasting spell to the ceiling above his head. Hermione threw her body towards him—propelling him against the wall to move out of the way of the blast. She pressed her thumb to the center of the galleon activating the charm just as three spells were thrown at the place they had been standing seconds before.

They landed in a field of giant mushrooms.

"Get down!" Lily screamed. The warning didn't come in time and several spells hit Hermione and Severus at once. They crashed to the ground and Hermione distantly heard shattering glass. A hazy blue smoke erupted from Hermione's bag and suddenly Hermione and Severus were being propelled just like when she had activated the galleon.

Her eyes widened as they landed in the same field again. This time she didn't wait for Lily's warning—she straight up shoved Severus to the ground, letting the spells fly over their heads. Without waiting, she dragged him behind the nearest mushroom stalk. They both breathed heavily as they looked around for Lily.

"There she is, behind the blue one." Severus said pointing to the other side of the field. Lily was under fire, next to an unconscious Remus. Another spell was shot at their hiding spot—one that sliced through the mushroom stalk.

"Move!" Severus yelled as the plant fell towards them. Hermione dove out of the way, towards another mushroom stalk. As she reached it, a red spear sped past her head, embedding itself into the stalk of the plant. She stared at the direction that it came from and saw a metal playing card which happened to have limbs. She moved just in time to avoid a second spear.

"Where are they?" She yelled to Severus. She didn't hear his muffled reply but she did manage to pick up on Lily's voice yelling at them. She searched frantically until she found them on the other side of open field. Remus was lying on the ground at Lily's feet, and Hermione assumed him to be unconscious. They were huddled behind a mushroom that looked as though it was about to collapse at any moment. She was forced to move again as the second stalk began to fall above her. She ran to one further away from those attacking her party and nearly attacked Severus when she was startled by him hiding behind one.

"We need to get to the others. I'll cover you, get to Lily and then cover me." He said. Hermione nodded and braced herself.

"Now!" Severus bellowed. Hermione threw herself away from the mushroom stalk and bolted across the field. She began zigzagging as she threw up random shield charms just in case a spell managed to lock onto her. She had reached Lily several minutes later, out of breath and moved beyond them to another mushroom.

"What are you doing?" Lily yelled as she shot off another spell. Hermione didn't answer, instead she started climbing up a stalk after casting an invisibility charm on herself. Once she was on the top of one, she jumped to another until she had an advantage of being directly in front of the students they were fighting. Those students just so happened to be standing several feet in front of the cards who were throwing spears at them.

"Accio cards," she said pointing her wand ahead of her. It took less than a minute for her to hear a loud crash and several moans. The spells ceased and she saw Severus sprinting across the gap in the mushrooms. She sprinted back to the rest of her group as fast as she could and was glad to see that Severus had revived Remus.

"We have to move now." Hermione said as she started pushing Lily forward. Severus and Remus thankfully followed and they soon had reached the edge of the field. Lily and Severus had taken the lead and suddenly plummeted down a hole. Hermione and Remus had stopped short upon seeing it when they suddenly were forced to duck down by more spears.

"What do we do?" Remus asked her.

"We hide," she said as she shoved him forward into the hole and followed him through. They fell through the air, hurtling towards the ground as they smashed into the sides of the tunnel. It seemed like ages when they finally landed—Remus first onto a wooden table covered in plates, cups, bowls, and silverware. Hermione landed on top of him, but her hand slammed into a broken tea cup. There were shards embedded in her right palm and she grimaced.

"Ooooh dear that looks like a nasty cut!" A rabbit said in a shrill voice. He looked flea bitten and was wearing a coat that had moth holes and patches everywhere. Before Hermione could say or do anything he had magically removed the shards in her hand, causing her to cry out in pain. He giggled in return. Hermione looked at the March Hare distastefully as Remus healed her hand for her. They both ducked when he suddenly threw a teacup in their direction.

"We're looking for our friends," Remus began looking at him with a quiet distaste. The March Hare didn't respond, instead he began laughing manically. Hermione looked at him and briefly wondered if this is what Alice felt like.

"Ah the soon to be Red Queen and her knight is the target that you seek?" A melodic voice said from behind them. Hermione and Remus turned around to see none other than the Mad Hatter.

"Soon to be Red Queen?" Hermione echoed before shaking her head.

"No we're looking for our friends, a girl with red hair named Lily and a boy name Severus." Remus tried again. The Mad Hatter drew nearer to Hermione with his eyes shining in deep interest.

"So this is that story; the tale in which the soon to be Red Queen and soon to be White Queen are friends. It's quite a different tale from that of our last pair—those sisters never could quite stand the rivalry between the two." The Mad Hatter said as he caught a teacup that the March Hare had launched into the air.

"You think I'm the White Queen?" Hermione asked stunned. The Mad Hatter grinned at her showing several rows of missing teeth.

"Oh yes indeed. Soon-to-be the White Queen who will be the true heir of the kingdom of Wonderland." He said grinning.

"But my hair isn't white," Hermione protested with a look to Remus who shrugged bewildered.

"Not yet it isn't." The Mad Hatter whispered grinning. Hermione felt a wave of dread wash over her at his statement. She wanted to shake her head and tell him that he was wrong. However he was so confident at the words he uttered that she honestly wasn't able to trust her gut that time.

"Listen, we need to find this soon to be Red Queen." Remus said losing his patience. The Mad Hatter drew back looking insulted by the interjection.

"On her way to the Red Queen's palace. Must be groomed into place. Once she drinks the tea it'll be too late!" The Mad Hatter said in a sing song voice.

"How can we catch up with her?" Remus asked him.

"Time is interesting thing. It spins round and round. Never stopping or slowing down. Despite the times we're having fun—it doesn't end. No end in sight. It spins round and round. Never stopping or slowing down." The Mad Hatter whispered. Hermione and Remus exchanged glances. They were unable to ask another question as a loud shouting sounded from above them—Remus shoved Hermione behind him as he yanked out his wand. A loud crash echoed from the table and they looked over to see one Sirius Black.

Hermione was standing in front of him before she could blink. He hugged her tightly before releasing her and looking at Remus.

"Where's James?" He asked glancing around.

"How should we know? He was with you." Remus answered.

"He fell through the hole first." Sirius said as if it were obvious logic that his best mate should be with them.

"We need to fix that." The March Hare mused aloud. The three teenagers all looked at one another before looking at the sky.

"You're saying that Lily and Severus were never here?" Remus asked.

"Could be that they fell straight into the throne room. That's a hole your sure to be dead." The Mad Hatter said.

"Where's the palace?" Sirius asked.

"Over that way—a few days walk."

"Is there any faster way to go?" Hermione asked.

"Time is interesting thing. It spins round and round. Never stopping or slowing down." The Mad Hatter muttered to himself before turning away and having a seat. He was there for two seconds, no more, when a loud trumpeting sounded from the woods.

"Run! The Queen's Guard is here. If they catch you, you'll lose your head! Off to the Southern Glade!" He hissed. Remus, Sirius and Hermione lost no time in taking off at a dead sprint for the woods. Hermione felt herself slipping backwards—or forwards—in her memories. She started falling into a blind panic as memories surfaced of sprinting through the Forest of Dean from snatchers. She could feel them on her heels, as though she was just barely beyond their grasp. Hermione's hair whipped wildly in the wind as she ran. Several spears flew past their head and she threw her wand arm back bellowing out a blasting charm as she continued to run.

The trees thankfully started to get larger and before she knew it, she was weaving in between them, using them as shields. She was beginning to tire, but still she pressed onward.

"Hermione!" One of the boys yelled her name, but she didn't slow down. She kept moving as fast as she could. She couldn't apparate without Harry and Ron; they'd never find each other again. Footsteps—heavy with speed—sounded from behind her and she instinctively threw a stunner followed by a boiling hex. She narrowly dodged out of the way of a tripping jinx.

She tripped suddenly over air. Her legs wouldn't work. She felt as though she was glued to the ground. Her wand had fallen from her hand a few feet away. Hermione nearly started screaming hysterically as she felt panic seize her. She heard feet running towards her, getting louder and louder. She stretched her arm for her wand—trying desperately to reach it. As her panic grew she started shouting accio in her head. The wand moved slightly—a little tremor ran through it. She said the word more clearly in her mind and it flew into her hand. She rolled over and shot off a blasting spell before she tried to use her legs again to move. When the action proved useless she started crawling deeper into the woods. She was crying by this point—desperate to get away; to escape.

"Hermione!" A very masculine voice said above her. He reached out and picked her up which caused Hermione to realize that her legs were free from whatever spell had prevented her from using them. She immediately started kicking and struggling. The action only resulted with her captor pulling her tightly against his chest. She went to throw a spell at him, but he anticipated her movement. He pulled her wand out of her grasp and she started flailing trying to kick him and scream. At the very least she was succeeding at imitating a banshee.

"Hermione! Hermione you're fine. You're safe. It's just me. It's just Sirius." He had turned her to allow her to catch sight of his face and she suddenly sagged against him. Relief washed over her and she buried her face in his chest crying out her fears in their previous situation as well as her frustration with the fact that he made her feel so safe. It shouldn't be like that. She was so exhausted that he was actually holding her up by this point and Hermione hated it. Being weak was what got you killed. The Order had learned that lesson the hard way. So many members had been annihilated because they were fighting on too little of sleep.

"Where's Harry and Ron?" She asked him pulling away as their well being popped into the forfront of her mind. She started looking around, but when she glanced back at him he was looking at her confused.

"It's just Remus and I." He said.

"We have to find them!" Hermione said frantically. She spun around looking around the woods that they were standing among.

"Hermione." Sirius said grasping her wrists and pulling her attention to him.

"There's no Harry or Ron here. It's just you, me and Remus. We're looking for Lily, James, and Severus." Sirius said. Hermione's eyes widened as she took in his last statement. The names echoed in her mind and distantly she recognized that he had actually mentioned Severus without a sneering or mean comment. It snapped her back to reality. This wasn't her timeline. This was Sirius'. Harry and Ron were not here. Her boys weren't here for her to protect.

* * *

_Time is Running Out- Muse_


	12. Miss Dumbledore

_Alright so let me know what you guys think. I am being serious! I desperately need to know why you like something or don't like something. I'm awful at editing (which is why I don't do it.) :D Review and you'll get an update sooner!_

_AalisEliza_

* * *

_Run fast as you can, no one has to understand._

The look of pity that Remus was giving her sent her blood into a boil. It was the same look that James had given her when he called her crazy, only without the contempt. He was staring at her from behind Sirius with this look of just utmost sympathy and pity. If she had more energy she would have been able to ignore it, but her adrenaline was working on overtime in addition to the fact that she was frustrated.

"Do you have something to say Remus?" She said before she could stop herself. Her tone was harsh and loud. Both boys were taken aback, so much that Sirius actually turned around to look at his friend in surprise. Remus himself fumbled for a response. He opened and closed his mouth several times before finally sputtering out one.

"I'm sorry?" He said feigning confusion at her demand.. Hermione raised an eyebrow and glared at him.

"You want to say something. Go ahead." She said harshly. He looked at Sirius helplessly

"Hermione," Sirius said trying to intervene on his mate's behalf. She turned and looked at him, only to see the same look in his eyes as well. It cut through her deeply to realize that two of the people that should get what she was going through were staring at her as though she were clinically insane.

" Forget it." Hermione said angrily. It hurt that they couldn't even be bothered to conceal their skeptical thoughts. She turned around flipping her hair over her shoulder while summoning her wand from Sirius before he could react.

It was growing dark all around them. It surprised the boys and worried Hermione. She hadn't expected that the teachers would allow this dueling tournament session to go on longer than a day. None of this was what she had been thinking would happen. She had imagined a repeat of the dueling club from their second year. None of them had spoken a word since she had yelled at Remus and Hermione preferred it to the looks they had been giving her.

They were sufficiently lost and unable to see anything. It forced her to stop and turn around to talk to the two boys that she was with.

"Why are we stopping?" Remus asked hesitantly. Hermione looked up at him, forgetting that his werewolf abilities enabled him to see in the dark.

"It's too dark to continue." Hermione said.

"We can't just stop," Sirius said. Hermione looked at him and rolled her eyes.

"That's exactly what we're going to do. There's no point in putting ourselves in pointless danger when we can just set up a campsite and sleep for a few hours. Needless to say this is the still a duel." She reminded them.

"So we're just supposed to sleep out in the open?" Sirius asked. His tone was evident that he thought it was an extremely stupid suggestion.

"No, we're going to sleep in the trees." Hermione said nodding upwards. Sirius looked over at Remus who had suddenly grinned to himself.

"Sounds like fun." The werewolf said before walking up towards a tall elm.

The next morning didn't end well for Hermione, Sirius, and Remus. They had all shimmied down the trees that they were sleeping in, and immediately the card soldiers had captured them. Luckily Hermione had thought to put her wand in the holster that was always attached to her right forearm. The device held it firmly in place while only allowing her to remove it. It also had an invisibility protection to hide it from sight. It was a gift from her Uncle Albus.

They were taken further into the forest until they reached the other side. Hermione was horrified when she saw a castle that was no doubt owned by the Queen of Hearts. Before they knew it the three of them were standing in the presence of the Queen herself.

"I asked for the soon to be White Queen." She said as she eyed Hermione disapprovingly.

"This is she." A guard answered reluctantly.

"Obviously you must be dimwitted. This girl has not an ounce of similarity to the White Queen. The legends are never wrong—it has always been that the replacements carry the same traits as the predecessor. After all look at my own." She gestured to a girl dressed in a sleek black ball gown with hearts. Her hair was swept up and she appeared as though she belonged in this world perfectly except that she looked like she wanted to bolt.

It was Lily.

Behind her stood Severus who was calmly looking at his fingernails, and James was nowhere in sight. Hermione felt that the situation was indeed odd. Her head ached from the lack of logic behind this supposed assignment. It didn't seem to matter that they were searching for something. They were just trapped down here.

It was then that the idea that this was all in her head scuttled across her mind. It would explain everything. Hermione hadn't survived the Final Battle with her wits. She was probably lying in Saint Mungo's next to Frank and Alice Longbottom. It would account for the some of the outrageous things that had happened.

However she knew better than to suppose that her mind could build something unreal this well. Magic helped enormously but this was too much even for her. Whenever she had dreams, the only thing she remembered was the plot. Colors, tastes, textures and any other sense was blocked out which was exactly why she knew this was not a dream.

"You there girl." The Queen said to Hermione. She looked up at her keeping her face blank.

"What is your name?" The Red Queen asked. Her voice was demanding and impatient.

"Hermione." The brunette answered. The Queen rose to her feet with her scepter in hand. She seemingly floated down to where Hermione was standing. She stopped only inches away and grasped Hermione's chin firmly in her hands. She stared into the younger woman's eyes and was pleasantly surprised to see that Hermione met the stare.

"This one has strength." She said quietly to herself. The Red Queen released her chin before turning to the two boys on that were flanking Hermione.

"I suppose that you are here to 'save' my successor." She said to each one of them. Sirius and Remus exchanged discreet glances before looking back to the Queen in front of them. Neither of them answered and again the Red Queen seemed as though she wasn't expecting that response.

"You two are trained well." She mused.

"Hers unfortunately couldn't stay away from each others' throats long enough to adequately protect her." The Red Queen looked at them again.

"You are to find the White Queen." She said in a tone that left no room for arguments.

"I trust that you will remain calm during this task. Often times I find that when assign tasks to my soldiers, they often lose their head." She said as she looked at them pointedly.

"If I may be so bold," Sirius said drawing her attention. Hermione was surprised at his tone. He had adopted a submissive undertone. No doubt it was from growing up with his mother constantly at his throat. The Queen nodded her permission for him to continue.

"In my experience, the best way to draw an enemy out of hiding is to use bait. In this particular case, I would suggest using the young lady." He said gesturing backwards at Lily. Hermione fully expected the Queen to laugh at him or say no.

"Very well. You must also take her guards. Despite their arguing. If any harm comes to my successor you will lose your life." The Queen said as she pointed the scepter at Sirius. He nodded at her and turned to look over to where Lily was standing. The Red Queen beckoned her forward, waiting for her to join them before continuing.

"The soon-to-be White Queen will be the same age and has blonde hair. You cannot let her get to the current White Queen." She said before taking her seat again.

"You're guard will meet you at the gate. Remember, try not to lose your heads." The Queen said with a mad sort of giggle. They were pushed out of the throne room before they could wrap their heads around what had just happened. True to her word, James was delivered to their group—in shackles—at the front gate. The card that escorted him removed the handcuffs before pushing him towards them.

"You have until the sun sets on the third day to return here with the soon-to-be White Queen." The card said gruffly. They all turned without a word and walked out of the gates. Once they were hidden among the nearby woods which seemed like much later in the day they finally stopped. The teenagers were all standing in a circle looking at each other.

"So…what happened?" Remus finally asked. Severus and James began yelling at each other immedietly. Try as she did Hermione was unable to discern anything. Thankfully Lily had the good sense to silence the two of them.

"After we fell through that hole, Severus and I landed in a marsh. We made it to the edge of the woods when James landed in front of us. It was then that those two started arguing it. It was interrupted by a screech of an animal that we all sprinted from. It was horrible looking." Lily said.

"Jabberwocky." Hermione muttered. Everyone turned to look at her surprised.

"Pardon?" Remus said after a moment.

"It's called a Jabberwocky." Hermione reiterated.

"How do you know that?" James demanded. She looked at him surprised that he had rid himself of the silencing spell non-verbally so quickly.

"This place is based on a children's novel." Hermione said.

"Alice in Wonderland." Lily clarified. She eyed Hermione with interest as though she had just received confirmation on something.

"What happens in this children's novel?" James asked.

"Long story short, a girl—named Alice falls into a hole, wakes up in Wonderland and proceeds to run into all sorts of creatures. The worst being the Red Queen—who beheads anything and everything she dislikes. She specifically does not like Alice as she is there to help end her reign and give it back to the Queen's sister—the White Queen." Hermione summarized.

"How is this supposed to play into the competition?" Severus asked.

"How is that a children's story?" James asked.

"I assume that Wonderland is the obstacle." Lily said.

"In order to have hopes of reaching the object we have to pass safely through the trials of Wonderland." The redhead looked at Hermione who scrunched up her face.

"What was that clue they gave us in the beginning?" Hermione asked.

"You must catch that which is impossible to ensnare, that which is impossible to stop, that which is impossible to transcend." Lily answered. Hermione stared at the ground, trying to figure out what it meant.

"Catch what is impossible, stop the impossible, you cannot transcend." She muttered under her breath. Hermione unknowingly began to pace.

"Air?" James said after a moment. Hermione shook her head and continued to mutter.

"Has anything weird happened to any of you today? Any sort of déjà vu?" She asked. They all looked up at her.

"When we first met up with Lily and Lupin." Severus said quietly. Hermione looked at him nodding fervently.

"We were hit with several spells, and then it was if we went back in time." He said.

"We only saw you when you sprinted for cover." Lily said confused.

"After I fell down the hole, I realized that it seemed to take forever to reach the bottom. I flipped in the air at one point and had been falling for at least ten minutes. Severus was nowhere to be seen, yet when I landed, it took him less than a minute to appear in front of me." Lily said.

"Do we need to go back to those places?" James asked.

"It could be a spell—much like muggle repelling charms." Sirius said. Hermione shook her head again. It wasn't right, it couldn't be right. There had to be something more. She turned over her right shoulder and suddenly winced. A spell hit her—one that was bright pink and tingled. Hermione felt herself falling to the ground as everything grew bright red and fuzzy. She could hear Sirius yell her name and noticed others running up upon them before it went dark.

"Do we need to go back to those places?" James asked. Hermione blinked dazedly. He just said that. Her eyes widened.

"We're under attack! Get under cover." She hissed as she pushed the nearest person behind a tree—which happened to be a confused disgruntled Lily. Severus had moved the second that Hermione had, the other two boys however waited until they saw an incoming spell to realize that she was right. Luckily this time no one was hit by the original spell.

"I'm guessing the other students found us?" Sirius yelled from the nearby tree. James laughed and shook his head.

"That or the Wonderworld people learned how to use magic." James called back.

"Wonder_land_. You wonder how he functions." Lily muttered to herself as she looked up at the tree she and Hermione were hiding behind.

"Cover me will you?" Lily asked Hermione as she cast a Wingardium Leviosa spell on her. Hermione ducked out and started firing spells left and right to flush out the other students. While she didn't manage to hit anyone, the spells distracted the opponents by bringing their attention to her. Lily was safely in the tree and beyond it to another one once she was under a disillusionment charm.

Hermione dodged behind to another tree before the spells that were being shot at her could hit her. This was not the situation that she wanted to be in. She wanted to be sitting with Ron and Harry laughing and doing anything. She'd get on a broom if it meant that she could go back to her own time.

She was distracted by her thoughts as stinging hex hit her hand, knocking her wand from her arm. Hermione didn't have time to grab it before she was forced to dodge out of the way of a tree branch falling. She summoned Harry's wand to her as she continued to move out of the way.

"Hey darlin!" Sirius drawled as she tripped behind him. He pulled her in front of him, so that her back was against the tree he was using as shelter.

"Sirius what are you doing?" She asked as she tried to back as far away from the intimate position as she could—to no avail.

"Talking to my favorite girl." He said with a grin as he shot another spell towards the other students who had began to climb out from behind different trees.

"I don't have time for this." She muttered as she slipped out from beneath his arm when he was distracted. She ended up over by Severus who had managed to take out two students and tie them up on his on.

"Hermione you aren't supposed to be the dead weight that was assigned to our team." He said with a raised eyebrow.

"What is that supposed to mean?" She whispered back at him.

"It means that you're the only one who's simply dodging spells." He said. His tone was light and teasing, which told her that he wasn't being serious.

"My apologies, I didn't realize you wanted me to sacrifice myself and leave you alone with the rest of the Gryffindors that you hate." She shot back.

"Fair point." He muttered.

"We're out of time. Move!" He said as he pushed her out of the way. The tree collapsed where they were at. Hermione heard a scream from across the forest, towards the other students. She whipped around, finally on her feet just in time to see Lily falling in mid air. The red head narrowly rolled out of the way of a thick branch that fell next to her.

She stumbled to her feet, holding her head. She was no doubt dazed from the fall. Hermione unthinkingly sprinted towards Lily firing off spells before the others could. The word Time kept echoing in her head as she ran.

Hermione reached Lily as a familiar purple spell was shooting towards Harry's mom. Hermione shoved her out of the way with her body as she cast a spell at the one barreling towards her. The second it was out of her wand, she hit the ground over top of Lily. A loud explosion ensued above their heads and Hermione moved to cover hers.

"I know what the object is," she whispered into Lily's ear.

She looked up at Severus and the rest of the boys. The only delimna was to get them all together. She grinned as she suddenly realized how angry they were all going to be in about five seconds.

"Accio Severus Snape. Accio James Potter. Accio Remus Lupin. Accio Sirius Black." She bellowed. The boys were hurtling through the air towards her. She threw up a last minute shield spell around her and Lily to prevent them from landing on top of the girls.

"Grab onto eveach other!" She yelled as she grabbed Lily's wrist and Remus'. Once they all had done so she yelled out again.

"The object we seek is time!" Seconds later it had all gone black. When the light had returned they saw that they were all laying on the floor of the Great Hall.

"Well done!" Professor Carmichael said. His voice boomed across the hall as he clapped loudly. The entire student body that had witnessed their turn all joined him. Several looked very reluctant to do so. The group climbed to their feet as their professor headed towards them.

"Well done indeed. You six completed the task in the smallest allotment of time. In addition there were no serious injuries. I am impressed." He said looking at each of them beaming.

"It's no wonder that you are your father's daughter Miss Dumbledore. He and your uncle should be most impressed by your performance." The professor said oblivious to the effect his words had on his students. Hermione was too busy trying to re-learn how to breathe to have been listening to his words.

When she realized that the entire hall was in fact staring at her she replayed what had just been said in her mind. Hermione didn't need to be told twice why the group was staring at her in shock. Lily looked angry, James was surprised. Remus matched James while looking slightly worried—no doubt at the fact that he had been rude to a relation of the Headmaster. Sirius was watching his friends with an amused expression and Severus looked downright betrayed.

* * *

_Kingdom Come- The Civil Wars_


	13. Whispers

_I apologize for the lack of an update. I have been under immense stress and I didn't like the direction it was heading. Let me know what you think. I'm a little worried about how this chapter turned out._

_AalisEliza_

* * *

She forced herself to ignore them. She had learned long ago that it would only fuel them more if she reacted negatively. When the giggling increased tenfold, she glanced back up to see that three more girls had joined the first two. She shut the book that she had been trying to study and returned it to the shelf that she had gotten from before leaving the library.

It had been two weeks.

Two weeks since that stupid, stupid duel. Two weeks ago, Hermione had been enjoying the fact that she wasn't a person of interest. No one really cared about the new girl, because she was just another Gryffindor muggleborn. The school was content to feed on the gossip of her fighting with the Marauders. All that had changed in an instant. One name drop and the next thing she knew, everyone was constantly staring at her like she should be in a cage at the zoo.

Honestly, she knew that she should have known better. Even with Hogwarts being as large as it is, gossip ran rampant. She had watched how Harry had to deal with the most idiotic rumors each year. There was never any cure for it. She should have known better to think that she could have kept her new last name concealed. She didn't even make it past September before everyone found out. Despite it being early October, the novelty wasn't wearing off.

Now she had dozens of people trying to attract her attention. Gryffindors showed up in hordes at a time. Ravenclaws were slightly more subtle, only groups of two or three at most. The Hufflepuffs always kept their distance, but were close enough that she could clearly make out what they were saying. The only ones who hadn't changed were the Slytherins. They still sneered at her as if she were dirt beneath their feet. It suited her just fine. It provided a false sense of the stability that she craved.

Even now, walking down the hallway she had students staring at her. They always were grouped in twos or threes, whispering as she walked by. She would occasionally catch little slivers of information. The vast majority was equivalent to, "That's her! She doesn't' look like a Dumbledore. Do you think she's as crazy as the headmaster?" As a result she often found herself taking the longest detours around the school just to avoid people. It was just easier to avoid people, than to deal with the whispers. It made her feel crazy. It was far worse than anything that had happened with Rita Skeeter in her own time.

"Dumbledore." A masculine voice called out her "last" name, causing her to flinch. Hermione was so locked up in her own thoughts that she hadn't realized anyone was following her. She turned to see a dark blonde haired boy walking up towards her. She didn't recognize him but she had to admit that he was cute. He was over a head foot taller than she was and a Ravenclaw.

"Hello," she said politely as she wondered what he wanted. He grinned at her before running a hand threw his hair.

"I've been calling you for the past few minutes. I always forget that birds enjoy playing hard to get. I wanted to put a face with a name. Gilderoy Lockhart." He said smoothly as he snared her hand and placed a kiss on it. She stared at him openmouthed.

"No doubt you've heard about me. I hold the highest academic spot of the seventh year students." He said smiling at her. Hermione stared at him, unsure what she had just heard come out of his mouth. She took a minute to pull her hand out of his grasp before trying to digest the situation.

"You're lucky to have both the family names and decent looks." He said bluntly. Hermione blinked after a moment as the words washed over her.

"Thank you," she said awkwardly. She looked at him unsure about what exactly he wanted. She glanced at the floor, to avoid staring directly at him and tucked her hair behind her right ear.

"There's a Hogsmeade weekend coming up—"

"Hermione! There you are, you know you're habit of being late is really starting to put a damper on our relationship darling." Sirius interrupted loudly as he joined them and swung an arm over her shoulders.

"Lockhart, still chasing after sixth years? I'm surprised the seventh year Ravenclaws haven't forgotten about the last incident that involved you and that Slytherin boy." He said lightly. The reaction was instant, Lockhart's smile vanished as his face darkened. Hermione looked up at between the two boys with a mixture of confusion and curiosity.

"Watch it Black. I didn't realize you felt the need to be so territorial. You always acted so above your pureblooded instincts." Lockhart snarled back. Sirius' stance changed considerably at the insult. Hermione felt him tense up at the suggestion that he was anything like his family. Thankfully the future Defense teacher stalked off without a word to her.

"You're welcome Dumbledore." Sirius said as he watched the other boy walk away.

"What?" Hermione asked. She was slightly disoriented from the fact that his arm was still around her shoulders.

"I just saved you from Mr. Fancy Pants. Merlin he's such a poof." Sirius said as he started walking the two of them away from the hallway.

"The gits full of it. Don't believe anything he says. He should've been in Hufflepuff." Sirius said as they walked down the hallway. To Hermione's dismay she saw dozens of girls staring at them wide eyed, some upset and some angry. She wanted to shake her head and shove his arm off from around her shoulders, but something deep in her core also enjoyed having his attentions.

"Where are we going?" Hermione asked warily.

"We need to have a little talk." Sirius said as he continued to steer her down the hall. Hermione didn't know what caused her to do it, but she suddenly launched herself into gear. She ducked under his arm and started running back up the corridor. She managed to make it to one of the secret passageways that that most students were oblivious to—this one happened to be hidden behind a fake wall. She dove through it and continued running up the spiral staircase that was hidden.

She felt the overwhelming urge to keep moving and obeyed it. Hermione wasn't able to concentrate on anything else other than putting more distance between her and Sirius. When she reached the top of the spiral staircase she pushed through the familiar wooden door that led to the corridor just below the seventh floor. All she needed to do was reach the Room of Requirement and she would be safe.

The stairs that connected the two floors was at the other end of the corridor and sometimes prone to moving. She knew that these two specifically loved screwing up students who were in a hurry to different classes. Ron had sworn time and again that they both had a mind of their own. By the time that she reached them, she knew that Sirius was at least half way down the corridor behind her. While he was still exceptionally fast for a student his age due to his being an animagus, she was in better shape.

The moment her foot connected with the first step, the staircase started moving. She allowed her step to flow with it, instead of fighting against the sudden movement so as to not lose her balance. Hermione continued running, even though there was no current destination that the staircase could attach itself to yet. She reached the top of the staircase, and looked back to see Sirius grinning at her. He had already realized that she was trapped.

"No where left to run darling." He said in a teasing tone. Hermione looked up from the ground where she had been staring two seconds prior. She gave him a small smirk before stepping off of the top of the staircase. The move was a risky one, and it required utmost concentration placed on a human flotation charm. She landed daintily on the staircase below that was now connected to the seventh floor corridor entrance. She started running as soon as she had a sure footing. Once she was in the corridor a wave of relief washed over her when she saw the door. She felt herself speed up, out of fear that he somehow managed to make the impossible jump even though she knew that he would never have made it. That particular crossover only ever happened at random, and it was nearly impossible to catch it at the exact minute it lined up. Jumping a minute too soon or a minute too late would result in catastrophe. Hermione only managed to find it after Fred pushed her off the edge with him during the original Final Battle just before his death.

The door to her safe haven appeared just as she skidded to a stop in front of it. She reached for the handle and instead found herself being slung over someone's shoulder. Hermione yelled out and tried to start kicking but her captor managed to block her movements. When she moved to hex him, he finagled her wand out of her hand and pocketed it out of her reach.

"Hermione, you only have yourself to blame for this. You're the one who had to choose the more difficult path, although I must admit it was much more fun." Sirius said laughing as he started walking down the hallway.

"Sirius Black you put me down this instance or I will gut you alive!" Hermione yelled as she punched him in between the shoulder blades.

"Easy Sprite. Hit all you want, you're just going to wear yourself out. I might have cast a numbing sensation charm on my back." He said as he lightly patted her butt. Hermione promptly punched him again and kneed him in the gut.

"I cast one there too in case you tried that." He said laughing. She started yelling and flailing again in attempts to get down to no avail.

"Love I'd let you down if I actually trusted you to not run away." He said laughing. By the time that Hermione was finally released from Sirius' grasp she was dumped unceremoniously on a couch in front of the other Marauders. She didn't hesitate before trying to leap over the couch and head straight back for the door, but she was tripped in her effort.

"Darling you're not getting out of this that easily. The best bet you can make is to just talk with us." Sirius called out as he sat down on the couch and patted the seat next to him. Hermione had scrambled up from the floor and forcibly pressed her back against the wall. She was having trouble breathing, and started clawing at her wrists as if she could rip her skin off of her body.

She tried focusing on the cool temperature of the stone in order to distract her from the fact that they were all staring at her. Hermione slammed her eyes shut and stared at the ground ordering herself to get a grip.

"These are teenage boys! Merlin, you could take them all in a duel without batting an eye." She internally yelled. She didn't know how long she'd been sitting there with her back pressed against the brick wall, her eyes shut tight. Hermione was absolutely mortified when a slight whimper escaped her lips. She didn't need to open her eyes to know that Remus would have heard it. Without realizing that her hand had left the wall until it was twisting the pearl necklace she wore in sheer stress she started rocking on the balls of her feet.

Within an instant of her fingers grasping the necklace, Sirius had her wrapped in a hug. He whispered small words of comfort, and gently led her over to the couch. She found herself clinging to him with her arms around her neck as she soaked in a tremendous feeling of relief and safety. It was as though every fear. thought of danger, the whispers that spoke to her of death in the back of her mind—everything had just melted away. She pressed her face into his neck and shoulder, as she tried to dissolve into that feeling of ultimate safety.

Hermione had lost her sense of safety ages ago. Ever since Ron, Harry, and she had gone on the run while hunting the Horcurxes. It had started slowly, little by little as they continued to be on the run. Ron leaving really hadn't helped matters. It took away one of the two people she felt comfortable being alone with. When he came back she was edgy around him, she always wondered when he'd disappear again. The moment that Harry had left them to go to Ravenclaw with Luna, Hermione had momentarily panicked.

She didn't need to see the boys to know that they were having a silent conversation as she remained hidden against Sirius. Remus and Sirius always had these non-verbal communications when she and the boys were around. Ronald and Harry never seemed to pick up on the secret looks, but Hermione had noticed from the start. She had memorized the looks that they would give one another—studied them and learned what they meant.

No doubt Remus was currently telling Sirius that he totally misjudged the situation, while the heir to the Most Noble House of Black was either rolling his eyes or if the way he was holding her was anything to judge by, he was ignoring them. It was surreal that this was where she felt safe. After ages of never letting people touch her out of fear, the only thing that made her forget all of those worries was Sirius.

"This is ridiculous." James muttered. Hermione felt Sirius snap his head in the direction that Harry's Dad sat.

"James." Sirius practically growled.

"What? It is—she's caused so much trouble since she's arrived. Lily's been upset ever since she's been here. I'm sure her family would love that she's been hanging around Snivileus." James said callously.

"You only care because it's an excuse to get close to Lily." Remus said.

"Why am I here?" Hermione interjected.

"Why did you lie about being a Dumbledore?" James asked harshly.

"You didn't ask." Hermione answered as she turned to look over her shoulder at him. He glared at her and opened his mouth to argue.

"Lily asked." James said.

"She was satisfied when I didn't answer her. An omission isn't a lie." Hermione said.

"No it's just being untruthful—which in case you forgot, that's also called lying." James argued.

"So you lied to Lily then?" Hermione asked innocently.

"Excuse me?" James asked.

"You told her that you liked her for her intellect. Yet you really just want to shag her." Hermione said bluntly. All of the boys practically choked on air in shock.

"WHAT?" James yelled suddenly. Hermione raised an eyebrow at him.

"I'm sorry, but you were the one who declared that omission is a lie. Therefore you lied to Lily. I would be happy to correct your misstep for you. After all I do live with the girl." Hermione said politely.

"Careful I'd think you were a Slytherin. It seems that Snivelus is rubbing off on you." Peter said snidely. Hermione stared at him as he uttered a little giggle at his innuendo.

"The Sorting Hat considered me for it, but at least I didn't have to beg to be put in the same house as my friends." Hermione said darkly. Peter colored considerably at her words.

"I find it interesting that you seem to have all of this knowledge at your fingertips." Remus said quietly.

"Why?" Hermione asked.

"None of it's a secret. It's a logical conclusion that Potter wants to shag Evans. He's sixteen. What sixteen year old doesn't want to get laid? As for him," she said indicating towards Pettigrew, "it's not difficult to guess how he got into this particular house."

"What house should he be in?" James asked angrily. Hermione looked at him and smirked.

"Hufflepuff." She answered. Her hand briefly traveled up to the necklace again as she absentmindedly thought about how comfortable she was at the moment.

"So why am I really here? Are you lot really that irked that you don't have everyone under your thumb?" Hermione asked as she yawned.

"Mostly out of curiosity; we had a few questions that we felt warranted answering." Remus answered with a small smile. Hermione had a sudden wave of dread wash over her.

"The first being why you're sitting on Sirius' lap." Lily asked from behind Sirius and Hermione. The brunette suddenly felt as though her day couldn't get any worse.


	14. Secrets, Revealed

_I apologize for the lack of an update. School started plus I just wasn't happy with it. That said I need to hear that you guys are actually reading/enjoying this story. :D_

_AalisEliza_

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_Secrets (secrets) are no fun_  
_Secrets (secrets) hurt someone_  
_Let me tell you how it all began _  
_A little secret got out of hand_

Lily was still waiting for an answer. Apparently Hermione was a source of great intrigue for the redheaded girl. Even after five minutes of the time traveler ignoring her, she was still staring at her from the doorway.

"I assumed that you didn't want to sit on Potter's lap; although if you would prefer to do so, I could always sit next to Sirius, instead of leaving the last seat open." Hermione answered after a moment. Lily turned bright red and instantly sat down.

"Obviously you all have some sort of agenda so I suggest that you start talking before I walk out." Hermione said to the group. Sirius' hands seemed to fly up to her hips in order to prevent her from rising. The action caught her by surprised, and she internally jumped as her cheeks turned pink once she realized what had happened.

"We want to apologize for our behavior." Remus said with a small smile. Lily however snorted and shook her head.

"Speak for yourself Remus." She said as James agreed with her. The teenage werewolf rolled his eyes at her comments.

"My apologies Lily; what I meant to say was that for those of us who don't have our heads up our arses we don't typically act like first years." Remus said looking at the two girls. Hermione inwardly smiled at Lily's anger. Harry's mom had a major temper problem and wasn't very adept at hiding her true feelings.

"I want to know why you hid the fact that you're a Dumbledore." Lily said bluntly as she tucked her hair behind her right ear. She had turned in her seat to look at Hermione more clearly.

"Clearly that is one of the dumbest things that you could've done. I mean what was the point? Don't you realize how prejudice people are against muggleborns? Students are hunted for it. There's a reason that I'm never out of the tower after curfew. You get a free pass just because you're a pureblood." Lily said harshly. Hermione silently regarded Harry's mom as she sat there. It felt surreal. She was sitting with the very woman who gave birth to the Wizarding World Savior; a woman who, in Hermione's own time, was idolized. Upon her death Lily Potter had been firmly placed on a pedestal to become the model for the perfect mother.

Yet here she sat, angry and hurt. Not to mention the fact that she was acting like the sixteen year old that she was. Hermione knew beyond a shadow of a doubt what the look Lily was giving her meant. It was a jealousy, but a very specific kind. Lily was angry at the fact that Hermione had the very thing that every muggleborn longed for—she belonged in the Wizarding World. She didn't have to prove herself. It was an automatic birthright.

Hermione had felt like that once. It was a lifetime ago—back when she herself was in school and still constantly trying to prove herself to everyone. She had sacrificed a normal childhood for becoming the Brightest Witch Her Age. While she wouldn't ever admit it out loud, she had purposely strived for perfection. It had been her intention to beat system; to humiliate the children of pureblood supremacists. She had succeeded too. There was a reason that Draco Malfoy had tried to kill her numerous times.

Despite that success she hadn't earned it without sacrifice. Hermione lost a childhood of being like the rest of her peers who got to blow off studies and goof off. Other students learned to find her weird and a know it all—Ravenclaws couldn't stand her because she wasn't one of them. It irked them that she would constantly best them at their most prized possession: the intelligent students of Hogwarts. Even with all of her achievements, Hermione was still teased and degraded. She had the word mudblood thrown at her every day. It occurred so much that she ultimately became immune to the insult. It helped that Bellatrix gave her a lovely tattoo of the word.

Unknowingly, Hermione had physically began to shrink backwards into Sirius. The more she began to think about her own past and the horrors it held, she started to feel trapped again. It was as though everything was about to swallow her up and never let go. It was overwhelming. There was nothing to concentrate on—and she felt the utmost urge to begin clawing her way out of her skin. As she sat there silently she realized that talking was going to be a struggle. She just felt sick by the very thought of it.

"Muggleborns aren't the only ones who are judged. It happens to everyone. Upon finding out my last name all of you instantly decided what kind of person I was to be. Evans you specifically decided that I was just another spoiled pureblooded brat. Had I been open from the beginning about who I was, I wouldn't have had a moments peace." Hermione said. Her voice was so quiet that everyone had to strain to her speak.

"Now that the entire school does indeed know, I have idiots running up to me every five minutes to ask me some ridiculous question. Everyone wants to be my friend, not because they like me, but because they think it will benefit them in the long run. I wanted to avoid that. I also don't particularly care for my last name. I don't want to use it to get by in life. I want to earn everything on my own merits; which is again why I chose to not let the entire school know upon my arrival that I was in fact a Dumbledore."

Hermione knew that she sounded almost exactly like Severus, but she didn't care. The entire conversation was ridiculous. Lily was staring at her, no doubt trying to ignore the fact that she had listened to that entire speech as though her former friend had given it. It was a look she had given her boys countless times when they were trying to reason something out to her. Lily Evans was trying to determine whether or not she was being genuine and if she actually had a point. It unnerved her to have a room full of people staring. All she wanted to do was bolt—to run as far as possible.

"What's the obsession with Slytherins?" Peter asked. Hermione was surprised to hear him partaking in the conversation. Everything that Sirius and Remus had told her and the boys about him made it sound as though he was always far too quiet. She didn't particularly care for his tone, but she let it go.

"Everyone knows that no one good ever came out of that house." The tone that he used left no room for doubt as to his true meaning. He was trying to subtly suggest she was a Death Eater. If Sirius's body language was any judge to go by, Peter was about to meet a very early and untimely death. Hermione rolled her eyes, an action that she knew Remus, Peter and James saw.

"What are you five?" She blurted out.

"Excuse me?" Peter asked as he puffed out his chest in an attempt to look menacing.

"You are behaving like a five year old. First that's a stereotype. If that's true does that mean all Gryffindors are stupid and run head first into any kind of danger? Secondly, it's none of your fucking business!" Hermione yelled. The sudden elevation in her volume caused the boy to shrink backwards.

"You don't know me. We aren't friends, so where do any of you get off on trying to tell me who it is acceptable for me to spend my time with?" She asked harshly. Hermione was standing by the time that she finished her heated statement. They were all staring at her like she was crazy.

"All I've heard from people in this stupid school is, 'don't do this, don't do that. Don't talk to Slytherins, only your own housemates." Hermione said mockingly.

"Quite frankly I'm sick of it. You're all so damn nosey! You want to know why I didn't want to give out my last name? I didn't want to deal with this type of shit. I didn't want to delve into my family history. I didn't want to deal with speculation. Grow the fuck up." She was out of the room before they could stop her. She stormed down the hallway, until she was well away from the room. In her desperation to get away from Harry's parents and their friends she failed to realize that she was actually in the dungeons of the castle. It wasn't until she stumbled upon a few other students that she noticed her mistake.

"Well look at what we have here, Dumbledore's protégé." Hermione whipped her body around as if someone had shocked her. It was a group of boys, the closest one was in the arena with her. It was one of the Lestrange brothers, and his voice had startled Hermione causing her to flinch as she turned around to face the group. He had a sneer on his face, and she knew that this wasn't a good situation.

"Aren't you a little lost down here?" One of the shorter and stockier boys asked. Her eyes jumped to him and she felt an intense urge to vomit. The look on his face was one that she had never wanted to see again. She had the misfortune of seeing it just before Pavarti was killed at Hogwarts. Even though she knew that it wasn't the same man, the image on his face was and she didn't need to read his mind to know what he was thinking.

"Didn't your daddy tell you to stay away from the dungeons?" Rodolphus asked her. His voice was soft, like one would imagine coming from a lover's voice. The way he said the words, sounded poisonous though. As if he got to close his mere breath might kill her. Hermione's spine was stiffened like steel.

"Don't pretend to know my father." She said harshly.

"Your old man is nothing more than a mudblood lover. You're filth. Just like him and the rest of your family." Rodolphous' friend had spoken again. His voice was harsh and nasally.

"Did they tell you to wait a certain amount of time, before you cheated?" He asked mockingly. She looked at him confused.

"Cheated?" Hermione asked taking a step backward into a natural defensive stance.

"Do you seriously think that we're going to believe they didn't give you the answer? It took everyone else weeks to figure it out, but you? Takes you barely two days. You don't have the stones to actually fight—look at you, cornered like a dog." Rodolphus said as he took a step closer to her.

"Careful you're scaring her Rodolphus," One of the other boys said as he grinned from behind him. Hermione stared at Bellatrix's husband with wide eyes. Was this to be her life; to be tortured by not one but two of Voldemort's most sadistic followers? Hermione had unknowingly shrank backwards in the corridor until her back was against the wall.

"Good," Rodolphus answered his friend. His eyes never left Hermione's and the grin on his face left no room for doubt that he was enjoying the body language that she was giving off. He was feeding off of her fear.

"Are you afraid of dark magic?" He asked as he pulled his wand out. The action itself made Hermione reach for hers, only to recoil in horror as she realized it was missing. Her eyes connected with the Lestrange in front of her and she knew that he was aware that she was unarmed.

_Sirius!_ She thought as she remembered that he had taken her wand. Hermione watched as Rodolphus grinned at her. His lips began forming words that she failed to hear. She watched as he moved his wand in a familiar motion, that forced her eyes wide open in horror.

Hermione hit the ground seconds before a familiar jet of purple could hit her. She rolled to the left and clambered back onto her feet. Rodolphus grinned at her as his friends all stared at her. He threw another spell that she dodged, only to be hit with a tripping jinx. She plummeted to the ground only to slam face first onto it. She moaned in pain, as her vision blurred. It suddenly looked as though there were six pairs of feet, when there should've only been three. Somewhere above her she heard laughter.

"You don't belong in our world Dumbledore. You're just another mudblood loving fool." He kicked her stomach, forcing her to moan loudly in pain as she started coughing for air. Rodolphus dropped down into a crouch in front of her. He voice lowered and she looked at him with blurred vision. Hermione tried to climb to her feet, but the action made her head swim again and she felt as though she would vomit from the effort.

"Cute necklace. I don't think you'll miss it." Rodolphus said with his lecherous grin. He reached down towards her, and when she tried to roll away he forcefully grabbed her arm to hold her still. His hand went to the back of her neck in search of the clasp. When she tried to move again he punched her in the face on the side that she had broken her fall with.

"Get away from her!" Rodolphus was thrown sideways, down the connecting staircase as Lily threw another spell. Hermione tried to move yet again, only to repeat the sensations of wanting to vomit and the room spinning.

"It's okay Sprite." Sirius whispered as he knelt beside her. Hermione felt a pull towards him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and clung to him the second that he was in reach. He rose to his feet with Hermione in his arms and she tightened her hold on him as she felt like she might be dropped at any moment.

"I've got you." He murmured into her hairline.

"Sirius, we need to take her to the hospital wing. She's got a really nasty bruise." Lily said quietly.

"Damn. Half her face is black." James blurted out. Hermione faintly heard him curse again which she assumed meant someone had the decency to hit him for the rudeness.

"Could you be any more tactless?" Lily hissed, confirming Hermione's assumption. She let her eyes slide close after deciding that the danger had passed. It was exhausting for her to try and keep them open.

"Its fine, she's asleep." Sirius said.

"No! Wake her up quickly. She might have a concussion." Lily said as she hurried up to catch up with Sirius. She began asking Hermione questions as they walked, but none of them distracted her enough to prevent her from hearing James open his mouth again.

"How did Sirius know she was in danger when he tore out of the room?" Harry's dad asked Remus.

* * *

Secrets are No fun lyrics


	15. Oops, My bad

_I apologize for the lack of an update. School has been a nightmare considering the fact that our professor's have added material because of the Semester change. Sorry for the complaining. This chapter is twice the length of the usual ones, in my hopes of smoothing things over. This is probs one of my favorites. Let me know what you think-basically, what works & what doesn't. Be super specific and I'll reward you!_

_Aalis_

* * *

"Sirius, mate." Remus said catching his friend's attention. The Black heir's eyes never left the bed where the petite brunette was sitting as the Madame Pomfrey fussed over her. Remus watched his friend carefully. He noticed immediately how Sirius attempted to suppress a grin as Hermione tried to insist that everything was fine and deny treatment. He didn't know how to place it. The situation didn't make much sense to the werewolf—from what he understood; Sirius had met her earlier that summer, just once. Yet somehow he seemed almost to be connected to her. His body language more than suggested that he was possessive of the girl. The animal in Remus was torn between respecting his pack mate, and proving his strength as the alpha by taking the girl for himself.

Thankfully, Moony wasn't interested in the girl further than that. It gave Moony some relief—and allowed him to focus on figuring out what was going on with Sirius. The entire situation seemed like it was out of a fairytale; as if something magical had forced the two of them together.

"NO!" Hermione's strangled scream tore Remus out of his thoughts, as his head snapped to her direction. Remus' arm had shot out to prevent Sirius from moving. Madame Pomfrey had been trying to convince Hermione to allow her to pull up her shirt so she could examine her for bruising.

"Dear, I need to be able to examine you, so I can heal that rib. You no doubt have at least a crack, since you're having so much trouble breathing." Madame Pomfrey explained. Her tone left no room for doubt that she expected Hermione would comply after hearing the explanation. Remus felt himself smirk when her face fell once she realized that the brunette wasn't going to be an easy patient.

"I can take care of it myself." Hermione said quickly. She had the hem of her shirt in a death grip, as though she was terrified the nurse would try to remove it without her permission. Remus tensed up upon noticing it, his eyes darted to Sirius to see if he had as well, but his friend was far too distracted by Hermione's distress.

"Healing spells are extremely complicated. They take your energy and if you don't perform them correctly you can do more harm than good." Lily blurted out. Madame Pomfrey began nodding in agreement.

"You also don't have a healing license, dear." The matron added after a moment. Remus watched as Hermione bristled at the comment. Moony recognized it as irritation and disagreement. He was shocked to see that Moony was anticipating what she would do. He wanted to see her react. Normally Moony ignored his friends and other people. He usually felt that it was beneath him to take notice of the other humans around him.

"Having a license means nothing other than you studied for a certain amount of years, and that you paid for it. It doesn't mean that someone who doesn't have one is incapable of performing the same spells." Hermione snarled back. Moony roared in approval while Madame Pomfrey pulled back as though she had been hit.

"You have too many injuries to attempt to heal yourself. It will do more harm than good. Just allow me to examine your ribs." The nurse tried to reason.

"Heal the other injuries, and I'll take care of my ribs." Hermione shot back. Remus watched with a morbid fascination. He would never have dreamed of actually snapping at an elder, even with Moony commentating in the background. Yet here was a tiny, slip of a girl who wasn't hesitating in the slightest to do just that.

"Madame Pomfrey, is there a way that you could examine her without having to remove her shirt?" Sirius asked. Remus returned to watching him, and it didn't take much to realize how stressed Sirius was at the situation. He was tugging at his sleeves, something that was a bit of a nervous tick for him. The habit happened extremely infrequently, and generally was very subtle.

"No, I have to see the damage and run diagnostic spells." Madame Pomfrey answered as she glared downwards at Hermione. Everyone sat silently; the only sound was Hermione's labored breathing.

"Dear please—"

"NO." Hermione growled. The resident mediwitch threw her hands up exasperated and stormed into her office before bellowing for the marauders and Lily to join her. Remus sighed heavily as he was forced to drag Sirius away from Hermione and into the office. Lily was listening attentively to the nurse, as she scribbled on a piece of paper before handing it to the younger girl.

"Now I need you lot to go and fetch the Headmaster. I am hoping that she'll see sense then, otherwise I'll have to wait until she passes out." She muttered.

"Be quick about it." They all nodded and practically sprinted out of the room. Remus was the last one out, as he was pushing Sirius through the door, and he didn't need Moony to catch Hermione's last comment to the nurse.

"You could have just sent a patronus." Remus had nearly stopped to ask her what she meant. It was the ever learning student in him. He reluctantly followed the rest of his friends out of the Hospital Wing. It took them relatively little time to reach the Headmaster's office and bring him up to speed with what had occurred. Remus had never seen the Headmaster react as quickly as he had once he realized what they had sputtered out. It seemed like only moments later that they were back in the hospital wing.

"Headmaster, please make Hermione see reason." Madame Pomfrey blurted out the moment they had entered the room.

"I cannot pretend that I have that much control over the girl," Albus said with a twinkle in his eyes. Hermione chuckled, only to start coughing. Everyone looked at her concerned, until she stopped suddenly. Remus watched her closely as everyone else turned back towards the Headmaster. The second that Hermione saw all eyes off of her, she discreetly spit into a cup that she had somehow managed to get. Remus didn't need to see it to know that it was blood. He could smell it even from across the room. Sirius swiveled around to look at her, just seconds from missing her vanish the contents silently.

"Remus do you smell blood?" He asked looking straight at Hermione who stared back at him with an innocent look on her face. Remus didn't answer; instead he chose to just glance at his friend.

"Hermione," Dumbledore began.

"Perhaps, if Madame Pomfrey examined you in her office?" He suggested. Hermione opened her mouth to begin protesting immediately.

"Another option would be to simply knock you out." He said after a moment. The girl promptly shut her mouth. A few minutes later she reluctantly followed the nurse into the office. Remus could hear the matron, saying numerous things, but one that stuck out in his mind was when he heard her stop.

"You poor child," after that there was silence.

* * *

Hermione was the awake at five am sharp, even with being force fed a dreamless sleep potion. She looked up shocked to see that all of the Marauders and Lily had stayed overnight with her. What really amused her was the fact that Lily was using James as a pillow and his hand was in her hair, no doubt from him playing with her hair while she slept. The brunette silently crawled out of bed, after casting a silencing spell on herself. Last night had showed her that her suspicions were correct of an animagus' senses. She knew that Sirius and Remus had both smelled the blood that she'd coughed up. Seeing as they were both camped out by her bed, she didn't want to risk waking either of them up.

She inched over to the door with one last glance back towards the bed, before slipping through as silent as possible. Her ribs felt spectacular, even though her face still hurt like hell. She'd have to make sure to return the gift in kind. She walked as quickly as she could down the corridors, and taking as many shortcuts that was possible so she could reach her dorm. Once she was upstairs, she wasted no time in sneaking into the restroom to take a shower.

There was just something about running into a Lestrange that made her feel disgusting. To be fair it wasn't as though she didn't know what it was—that particular family had violated her emotionally, physically, and verbally. In all honesty she would be more worried if she didn't have some sort of reaction like that to seeing either of them. As she let the water run over her, she started day dreaming about various ideas that might be possible to use against the boys who attacked her. The old Hermione Granger would never have dared to retaliate, and would have cited taking the high road instead. Following several years of influence from Harry and Ron, however she had grown to depend on her "Slytherin" side much more often.

It was about an hour later when she finally decided to emerge from the water. She wrapped her hair into a towel and threw on her clothes, until she was standing in jeans and a bra. While her ribs had been healed up nicely, and the bruising from the injury was also gone, her right side still was hideous. She gingerly reached a hand up until she touched the large scarred letters on her ribcage. It expanded from her hip to just under her bra line. It was large, jagged, and ugly; which is exactly what Bellatrix wanted. Madame Pomfrey had wanted to heal it the second that she saw it, but Hermione didn't have to tell her it was futile. The woman had tried everything in her own time and after everything failed, Hermione had eventually just accepted that it was hopeless. She couldn't put herself through that again.

"Hermione, are you in—" The door had been thrown open by Lily, before Hermione could react. Lily's words died on her tongue as her eyes locked in on Hermione's rib cage. Her face had taken on a nasty hue of grayish white.

"What in Merlin's—?" Harry's mom sputtered out as a hand flew to her mouth as her voice faltered again. The two stood there silently until Lily shut the door behind her. Hermione felt herself grow tense, unsure of how to react to Lily. She didn't know the girl well enough to know how she would respond.

"How long did….how did they do this? I thought that we got there in time," The redhead finally managed to say.

"They didn't do this," Hermione said gesturing to her side. Lily's eyes widened even further and she looked as though she were about to fall down from sheer horror. The information didn't seem to comfort her at all. In fact she looked even more horrified to know that something had happened.

"Hermione. Explain." Lily said firmly. The look on Harry's mom's face was enough to tell her that she couldn't avoid this conversation. It was going to happen with or without her permission. So with a heavy sigh, she silently locked the door, cast a muffliato charm, a silencing spell on the room, and warded the door shut as a precaution. Lily looked warily at her while she did so, but said nothing.

"What I'm about to tell you, doesn't leave this room." Hermione ordered. Lily's eyes widened and she began nodding slowly.

"I need you to take an unbreakable vow." To her credit, Lily hesitated only slightly before she slowly nodded her head in agreement. Hermione wasn't even sure where to begin, or what to say at all. Part of her honestly thought about obliviating Lily, but she was too afraid of the consequences to even attempt it. Only after they had taken the Unbreakable Vow did Hermione begin to explain.

"You've heard about Death Eaters," Hermione said after a moment. It was a question phrased as a statement.

"Yes. They're pureblood supremacists. The Daily Prophet has reported that they're the cause of several disappearances. Apparently it's a handful of them running around creating havoc. They're led by You-Know-Who." Lily answered immediately.

"Voldemort." Hermione corrected harshly. Lily jumped when she heard the name.

"Always use his name. It's not going to hurt you, and not doing so only allows him more power over you." Hermione explained.

"Unfortunately there are quite a few more than just a handful of Death Eaters running around, and as time goes on, he gains more and more followers. Even worse is the fact that the majority of his followers are quite wealthy. Don't mistake their mission for Voldemort's though." Hermione said, ignoring the shudder that went through Lily as she heard the Dark Lord's name again.

"What do you mean?" Lily asked curiously.

"Voldemort just wants power. He doesn't care how he gets it. Blood doesn't matter to him, if he had to kill a pureblood to win, he would do it in a heartbeat. He's nothing more than halfblood anyway." Hermione explained. Lily's eyes widened considerably at the information that she'd just been given.

"My best friend's godfather was in danger a few years ago. He didn't listen to me, when I told him that it was better if we let the adults handle it and it turned out to be a trap. This is how I received this scar." Hermione said turning to face Lily and pointing out the ugly scar across her stomach that she had gotten from Dolhov.

"There's no cure for it. It's a homemade curse, and the only reason that I'm still alive is because I managed to get a lucky shot in and had silenced the Death Eater who cast it." Hermione said.

"How would you prevent it from happening again? Could you use a shield charm?" Lily asked.

"The spell itself is a unique, vibrant shade of purple, and when I see it I hit the ground. It rips through shield charms." Hermione answered. Lily's eyes widened as her hand flew up to her mouth. She stumbled back towards the door in horror. The brunette knew without needing to hear from Lily why she was reacting like that.

"Someone shot that at me in class. That's why you threw yourself at me, you knew what it was." Harry's mom whispered. Hermione nodded.

"Is the person who attacked you at Hogwarts?" Lily demanded.

"No." The answer was firm and Lily didn't like it.

"Then how do you explain—"

"Someone has been teaching dark spells to students." Hermione answered grimly.

"We ended up being rescued by my uncle, but a few years later when I was camping with my two best friends in the Forest of Dean, two death eaters happened upon us. They dragged us back to their hideout, and decided to have fun." Hermione's voice was void of any emotion. She was staring at the ground as she robotically spoke.

"I don't remember how long I was stuck there. At least two hours, the entire time she was playing with unforgivable and carving into my skin. The boys were locked up in the dungeons of the house, while I was on the floor of the front parlor."

"How'd you manage to escape?" Lily asked in a horrified whisper.

"I don't know really. I believe one of my friend's house elves saved us. I was unconscious for most of it towards the end. I vaguely remember having a knife to my throat, which is how I got this lovely scar." Hermione said as she tilted her chin up. It was very slim and white; nearly invisible to the naked eye. Lily looked as though she wanted to throw up. She didn't though, although she did start crying.

"I'm so sorry." Lily said as she continued to cry.

"It's fine. It's not your fault."

"I've been so awful and acting like prat. You've done nothing wrong, and you saved me." Lily said as she cried harder. Hermione slowly pulled a tank top over her head before reaching for her wand. Lily noticed her movement and looked at her questioningly.

"Someone is trying to break through my wards, and they're not trying to be delicate at all." Hermione said bluntly. Lily moved away from the door and stood next to Hermione with her wand in hand as well.

"What's the plan?" Lily asked. Hermione shrugged as she forced herself to drop her three strongest wards. She left up the outermost; the baby ones that attempted to turn people away from the room.

"_Confringo_!" Hermione thought silently as she pointed her wand at the door. The spell whipped out of her wand, and as it collided with the bathroom door it erupted into a fiery chain which blasted the heavy metal and wood door off of its hinges. The girls heard a huge collision as it collided into several beds before hitting the far wall. There was a moan of human pain, accompanied by a shout of "Prongs!"

"Sprite, it's just me!" Sirius called from the other side of the hole. Lily panicked and sprinted through before Hermione could stop her. She was on the ground searching for James before anyone could blink. The muggleborn witch was freaking out, calling his name and crying while apologizing profusely. Hermione wanted to go to her, but she was too shaken up to move. What if she killed Harry?

"Sprite?" Sirius asked warily as he ducked into Hermione's sight. She felt her body react, her wand was pointed at him, but her mind was achingly numb. Her vision began to swam, and her whole body felt very heavy.

"It's just me." He said as he strayed closer. Her body wasn't reacting for her anymore, at least not defensively. The closer he came to her, the more she wanted to reach out for him. In two steps, he had reached her, and wrapped his arms around her. Hermione's brain wasn't okay with this, it was trying to fight for control over her limbs again. The last thing that she remembered clearly was Lily screaming at Sirius that they needed to take James to the Hospital Wing.

* * *

"You shouldn't have attempted to use magic that soon after leaving the Hospital Wing!" Madame Pomfrey scolded her as she fussed. Hermione wasn't paying attention to what she was saying. Instead she was focused on leaning as far back as possible. The nurse was far too close to her, and it was literally all she could do to keep from blasting her backwards.

"Madame Pomfrey, could you check on James please?" Sirius asked after a moment. The resident nurse swung sharply away from Hermione to look at Harry's Dad. To everyone's surprise she began treating him again, instead of continuing with Hermione.

"What in Merlin's name possessed you lot to have a duel the second one of you left? Especially when she had such extensive injuries?! Of all the stunts you lot have pulled this sure takes the cake! Not to mention how unexpected this is of you Miss Evans!" Madame Pomfrey ranted as she started shooting diagnostic spells at James.

"It seemed like an excellent idea at the time." Lily said after a moment. Everyone, save for James—who wasn't awake—turned to look at her in surprise. The attention caused Lily to turn bright red.

"We wanted to make sure we were up to par for our exams in Defense Against the Dark Arts." Lily said as if her lying to a teacher was a normal occurrence. The nurse watched her suspiciously for a moment before turning back to James, which signaled that she had chosen to believe the prefect. It escaped no one's notice how close Harry's mom was sitting to her future husband.

"Now, Miss Dumbledore, you need to let yourself heal before using any more magic such as you did earlier. In the state that you were in last night, it will just drain your energy. At least wait until after dinner, before you feel the need to duel someone again." Hermione wanted to roll her eyes. The information clearly wasn't anything other than the Nurse's attempt to maintain order in the castle. She'd seen her attempt to do the same with the twins, after they had been sent to the hospital wing for fighting with Slytherins before they left school for the final time.

"Is he going to wake up?" Lily asked worried. Her question drew Hermione's attention back to the present time.

"He'll be just fine," Madame Pomfrey reassured Lily.

"Mr. Potter has been put under a terrible amount of stress. As you know, Hogwarts is a very sturdy castle, and having a door blasted open on top of you isn't very conducive to staying in good health. Although," here she paused and looked up at Hermione.

"Had you been under a real attack, and in real danger, I would commend you for your ingenuity. Very few duelist ever think to use their surroundings in a fight. Gryffindor is thirty points richer than they were earlier this morning." Madame Pomfrey didn't give them anytime to comment before she went to her office to retrieve a potion for James. All of the students had gaped at Hermione who managed to shrug with a slight smirk on her face. Once James was awake she sent them on their way with strict instructions not to show up again for at least two weeks. They had barely made it out of ear shot before Sirius and James started asking questions.

"So…am I going to get an apology?" James asked the two girls without a hint of tact. Lily turned bright red and immedietly began to mumble under her breath. Hermione's reaction was far different. She didn't even bother to turn around or stop walking.

"No." She said over Lily's mumbles. Hermione's lack of regret caused the other three students to stop abruptly. When she realized they were no longer walking, she paused and turned to face them.

"What?" The brunette asked tiredly.

"That's it? You exploded a door on top of me, and nothing? Not a single, 'My bad Potter?" James asked. He seemed quite shocked that he was really not going to receive an apology from her. Hermione knew that the old her, the one who had lived before the war, would have been apologizing profusely from the moment she cast the spell. In all honesty, that Hermione most likely _wouldn't_ have even attempted to cast the spell because she would've been afraid of someone getting hurt. However, times change and people are forced to adapt.

"Lily and I are not at fault." Hermione answered coldly. James blinked before looking at his future wife. Sirius on the other hand seemed to snap at her answer.

"Excuse me?" He asked dangerously.

"You exploded a door—one made of iron and wood—and threw James across a bedroom, gave him a concussion, not to mention several serious injuries. Yet you think we're at fault?" The Black heir demanded as he stepped forward.

"The two of you attacked my wards without restraint. How was I supposed to react? How would you bloody react if someone tried to browbeat their way into a room that you had secured for a specific purpose? Especially after trespassing into an area strictly off limits?" Hermione said irritated. She could feel her magic crackle to life as Sirius' reared up threateningly.

"It's bloody Hogwarts! What grounds would you have for thinking that someone's actually going to hurt you?" Sirius asked angrily.

"How about the fact that you decided to bombard my wards with relentless attacks—to the point that you nearly sliced through them in three rounds? Honestly, if anyone should be mad it should be Potter over the fact that you knew how I would react! You were the one who was stupid enough to try and break through my wards. Did you really expect that I wouldn't retaliate? Obvioulsy not since you knew enough to get out of the way before I shot the door off of its hinges!" Hermione hissed.

"I find it funny that you think you know who attacked your wards." Sirius said mockingly.

"Oh don't try to deny it Black. Your magical signature was unmistakable—bold, raw and unapologetic." Hermione bit out. Sirius' body language changed the second that the words left her mouth and she immediately regretted saying it. James' eyebrows rose drastically, as did Lily's whose hand had flown up to her mouth, while her left grabbed Potter's wrist out of shock.

Sirius had begun to predatorily stalk Hermione until she was two steps away from being trapped between him and a wall.

* * *

_I hope that you enjoyed it! If you review and tell me explicitly what you loved about the chapter/what you didn't like I'll update within the week, which compared to the month I left you hanging...well you know what I mean ;D_


	16. Pearls

_I apologize for the lack of an update. School has been a nightmare considering the fact that our professor's have added material because of the Semester change. Sorry for the complaining. This chapter is twice the length of the usual ones, in my hopes of smoothing things over. This is probs one of my favorites. Let me know what you think-basically, what works & what doesn't. Be super specific and I'll reward you!_

_Aalis_

* * *

His behavior had changed within the blink of an eye. Sirius was displaying a very predatory type of behavior. The sexual tension forced a deep blush upon her cheeks. All she could see was Sirius, his frame dwarfed her own, and it overwhelmed her.

"How long have you known my magical signature in such intimate details?" He asked. His voice had taken on a seductive tone, and Hermione felt herself gulp.

"Sorry?" Her voice just barely managed to squeak out a response. She blushed further at the direction that her thoughts flowed.

"You heard me," Sirius murmured as he stepped closer to her.

"In order to recognize someone's magical signature, you need to either have a very old friendship, or intimate knowledge between the two people. So which is it?" He asked. In Hermione's reality it was the former. She'd known Sirius since she was thirteen years old, and she'd lived with him for several years. Of course she would recognize his magical signature. In fact it would be ridiculous of her not to do so! Hermione opened her mouth to tell him off for assuming her to be so unobservant, when she really looked at who was standing in front of her. Upon recognizing that she was indeed standing in front of Sirius—but a much younger one, she promptly snapped her jaw shut.

"Oh come on Darling, it can't be that difficult." His voice taunted her and all she could seem to think about was kissing him. The idea was ridiculous because of the fact that this was Harry's Godfather!

"You're being ridiculous." She finally blurted out, not knowing what other strategy to employ with him. His right eyebrow quirked up in curiosity of her statement, which made Hermione want to run.

"Am I? You are the one who is claiming to know such an intimate manner." The suggestive tone of his voice was unmistakable.

"You're brash; you run head first into stupid situations without thinking and your magic is exactly the same! It's relentless in its pursuit!" Hermione blurted out angrily. Sirius' smirk only grew bigger as her words washed over him. She returned to blushing as he continued to stare at her.

From across the hallway, Lily and James were watching with mixed expressions of horror and delight. Lily wasn't sure when she started clutching James' arm for support; somewhere between the fighting and now Sirius attempting to hit on the girl. It was like watching a soap opera. Part of her knew that she should intercept, and rescue her friend.

_Her friend_. Lily blinked at the fact that she'd just referred to Hermione Dumbledore as her friend. She wanted to start over-analyzing when exactly her brain had shifted the girl into her friend zone. The redhead though already knew how she made the change. Her behavior was unacceptable, and Hermione hadn't provoked it. What was even more stunning was the fact that she had saved Lily. She watched as Sirius continued to box her in, and decided it was time to intervene. She stepped forward, only to have James' pull her back.

Lily nearly gasped as she felt James put his hands on her hips and step closer to her. She could feel his chest against her back, and immediately began to blush. Her face matched the color of her hair in seconds. She was too shocked to really consider moving away from James, a state which only grew the longer she stood there.

"Give them a minute." He whispered into her left ear. Lily's eyes closed involuntarily for a split second only to snap open upon hearing Hermione shriek. Neither Sirius, nor his prey, had moved.

"Don't blame me for the fact that you don't know how to hide your magical signature." Hermione said defensively. Sirius started chuckling, which only served to anger Hermione. Lily began to wonder if Sirius even realized how defensive the other girl's stance was at the moment. She seemed as though she was about to bolt at any moment.

"Darling, don't try to play games with me." Sirius whispered as he eyed her.

"You're the one who's demanding answers that are irrelevant." Hermione said angrily. Lily watched wide-eyed as the scene continued to play out in front of her.

"Hermione, don't try to play dumb. It doesn't become you. We both know that magical signatures are very personal and people only learn others' when they're magic brush up against one another. It takes ages to be able to recognize it on sight. This isn't something you can figure out with a 'lucky guess." Sirius said. Hermione's back was against the wall by this point and Sirius had officially trapped her.

Lily watched warily as Sirius purred at the other Gryffindor female.

"He's got her wrapped around his finger." James whispered into Lily's ear. The action sent an involuntary shiver down the muggleborn's spine. She wanted to die of embarrassment. This was Potter—the pureblood prat. It was seconds after James had spoken that a white light suddenly erupted in between Hermione and Sirius. Lily felt herself being forcefully shoved backwards, before James' arms fully encircled her waist and spun their positions so that he was taking the majority of the reaction. Lily clung to him, afraid of what would happen if she were to let go.

When it finally stopped—eons later—Lily and James had been pushed all the way across the corridor. Her back was against the stone wall, even though she was leaning heavily against James. Her energy was completely drained, though she didn't understand why. James was breathing heavily as well, and he hadn't let go of her, opting instead to pull her closer. She knew at some point that her brain would kick-start and remind her that this was inappropriate. However at the moment, Lily was far too exhausted to fight whatever comfort James was willing to give to her.

"Blimey," They heard Sirius groan. James turned partially, while never letting Lily out of his arms, to see his mate. Lily was able to catch a glimpse of the Black Heir sprawled on his back in the middle of the corridor. Hermione wasn't anywhere in sight. He slowly pulled himself back to his feet before turning to face James and Lily.

"Where did she go?" Lily asked as she stared at her housemates. James shrugged while he and Sirius exchanged looks of shock.

"So much for not using magic for another few hours; that girl is going to kill herself." James commented as he looked down the corridor for any hint of the path Hermione had taken.

"That was accidental magic mate." Sirius said as he walked over to Lily and James.

"How do you know that it she didn't cast it non-verbally?" James asked. Lily looked at him surprised that he was thinking so logically. She felt a small smile spread across her face at the thought.

"She didn't have a wand in her hand." Sirius answered matter of fact.

"Wandless?" James countered.

"I could feel it. The surge was sporadic, overly powerful and there was this overwhelming feeling of panic." Sirius said after a minute.

"What?" Lily asked slightly horrified.

"How is that possible?" James asked. Sirius shrugged while running a hand over his face.

"Should we go speak with the Headmaster or Professor McGonagall? What if something is wrong with your magic?" Lily asked worried.

"No." Sirius said quickly.

"What if—"

"No." Sirius said more firmly. Lily looked put out, but said no more on the subject.

"We need to find her. You heard what Madame Pomfrey said. What if something bad happens?" The redhead said as she bit her lip in worry. The two boys nodded and they made their way to the tower.

* * *

Hermione was flipping through page after page, no longer actually digesting any of the words in front of her. Frustrated she let out a furious scream before flinging if from her. It hit the wall with great force and Hermione found herself out of breath, wishing to erupt into tears. She knew that there was a solution. There had to be a way home. If she was sent back then she could send herself forward.

She pulled another tomb towards her and began reading again. She had made it to the third page when large crack sounded causing her to jump. She looked up to see a house-elf standing in front of her. It was wearing the standard Hogwarts employment uniform—a tea cozy in one of the house colors.

"Tea miss?" She squeaked out, her eyes widening at the sound of her own voice. Hermione was too shocked to vocalize anything, so she settled for a quick nod of her head. The house elf was gone in the blink of an eye. She reappeared with more than just a tray of tea. Along with it she had brought a full course meal consisting of Pumpkin Juice, thick bread, and butter to accompany it. In addition there was a large bowl of chili. She set it on the table next to Hermione before dropping into a curtsy and disappearing.

"Weird," Hermione muttered before dragging herself away from her current book to pour herself a glass of tea. Pulling the cup of tea and a bit of bread back to the large tome she was working with, Hermione lost herself in the text.

"I need USEFUL books!" Hermione shouted after another hour of finding absolutely nothing of worth. The room reacted to her demand instantly by filling the room with more books than she had ever seen in her life.

"I need books on the subject of time travel that are useful to me." She corrected with a growl in her throat. Every book in the room disappeared in a matter of seconds.

"YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!" Hermione screamed. Nothing changed. The room remained empty of all materials that even appeared to be something helpful. She started breathing sporadically. What if she really was stuck here? She'd never see her family again. Her parents would forever be lost to her. It was unacceptable.

She finally managed to drag herself from the room, noting that she needed sleep of some kind and didn't need to arouse anyone's suspicions like the last time. A sudden tiredness began to overwhelm her, and she vaguely found herself touching the necklace that encircled her neck. She didn't know why, but it felt as though it was the source of the exhaustion. Hermione stumbled towards the door and wrenched it open. Everything felt heavy and she just wanted to sleep all of a sudden. It was a weird feeling.

"Hermione," Sirius' voice sounded from the other side of the doorway. He sounded relieved.

"Why am I so tired?" Hermione asked him as she started to sink to her knees. Sirius caught her before she lost her footing and swung her up into his arms.

"You managed to get yourself put in the Hospital Wing, twice in a single day Sprite. You simply over did it."

"Don't call me that. Only Sirius calls me Sprite." Hermione heard herself mumbling. She heard him laugh.

"I am Sirius."

"No you're not. Not yet." Hermione muttered before her eyes slid shut against her will.

* * *

She woke up in a strange room. It looked like her dormitory but it was wrong. She reached for her wand, but it wasn't in her wrist holster as it should've been. Hermione remained very still, while she attempted to discern whether or not she was alone. Much like the same day that Hermione woke up in Minerva's room, she rolled over to the side of the bed, and crouched down on the floor. She attempted to summon her wand, but after waiting for five minutes, it was evident that it wasn't going to happen. Heavy footsteps sounded just outside the door and she instinctively slid underneath the bed she'd been lying on minutes earlier.

"She's gone."

"I told you to watch her!"

"I got distracted." The voice was whiny and petulant. In Hermione's haze she somehow managed to realize that one of them was Sirius. She didn't emerge from her position, although she watched one set of feet walk out of the room and shut the door.

"Alright Sprite, I know you're in here. Show yourself." Sirius' voice took an a tone that oozed with safety and smoothness. She slowly slid out from under the bed and looked at him warily. He was watching her with an amused glint in his eye.

"I take it we're in your dormitory." Hermione commented. Sirius nodded.

"Well…as soon as you give me my wand, I'll be on my way."

"Not so fast darling. We have lots to talk about. Namely, that lovely little necklace you're always wearing." Sirius said with a joyless smile.


	17. The Noble & Most Ancient House of Black

_This Chapter is both a whim & a reward. A reviewer inquired about a specific piece of the story, and this is the answer. I told you I'd reward super specific posts! :D_

_Aalis_

* * *

"My necklace?" Hermione asked. Her hand had reached up to lightly graze the piece that lay around her neck, as she stared at him slightly confused by the direction that Sirius was taking the conversation. It was just a necklace after all, most days she forgot that she was wearing it.

"It's quite an fascinating necklace, goblin made correct? If I had to make a guess, I'd say that they were cultivated from wild salt-water oysters." Sirius said watching her carefully. She didn't respond, nor did she react to the information.

"Quite a rarity, wild pearls, are extremely rare. So uncommon that they are worth a small fortune apiece, and what muggles fail to realize is that the ones cultivated from a lagoon, well those tend to have magical properties." Sirius said.

"Sounds like an interesting legend," Hermione said after a moment. She was unsure about where he was heading with this conversation, but it made her exceedingly uncomfortable. It wasn't like Sirius, her Sirius that is, had given her a family heirloom. He would've been insane to do so.

"Your boyfriend no doubt must be wealthy to have given you such a gift." Sirius said after a moment.

"I don't have a boyfriend," Hermione blurted out before she could think about the question. Sirius' face bloomed into a smirk. He took a few steps forward in her direction and Hermione subconsciously stepped backwards. It felt like the hallway all over again.

"Interesting," Sirius said. He was suddenly only centimeters from her, and she was overwhelmed. Hermione had no idea how he managed to get so close to her. She went to take a step back to regain her control, but Sirius anticipated the action, countering it by slipping his arm around her waist. He pulled her flush against him, causing Hermione's cheeks to burn scarlet.

"You have an nasty habit of trying to escape conversations that you don't wish to partake in." He murmured softly while staring at her. She was unable to look him directly in the eye, and settled for staring at his neck as she continued to blush.

"Hermione," the softness of his voice caused her to look up at him, and it was then that he made his move. His lips were on hers before she registered what he was doing. It ignited the two of them. She felt an odd warmth erupt from her around her neck—had she been in the right state of mind she would've blamed the necklace. She had originally planned to push him away, but as she went to do so, her hands curled around his neck instead. Her arms pulled him closer to her—her hands lacing through his hair, clutching his neck as his own began to roam down below her waist and towards her hips.

Any time she thought about ending the kiss—or kisses—her mind would lose control of her limbs. Instead of doing what her brain told them to, they would do the opposite. In what literally seemed like a matter of seconds, Sirius had picked her up and deposited her on the nearest bed. The action should have jogged her senses, but instead it had only spurred the two of them onward. He was driving her mad by having his hand on her bare thigh, just below the hem of her skirt.

"Sirius have you seen—whoa, sorry mate." The door had flung open to reveal none other than James, and Hermione had reached her feet nearly instantaneously before bolting out the door. Sirius managed to toss her wand towards her on her way out—neither wanting a repeat of the last time she'd been without one. The door slam shut behind her, leaving Sirius with his best mate who didn't know whether to be impressed or cross.

"Do you really think it's a good idea to mess around with the Headmaster's daughter?" James asked awkwardly as soon as he was sure she was gone. Sirius shot him an aggravated look.

"What if it goes bad?" He pressed.

"Don't worry about it Prongsi," Sirius said as he stared up at the ceiling.

"What do you mean don't worry about it? How can I not worry about it?! We are lucky that Dumbledore plays favorites with us, otherwise we would've gotten expelled long ago. how's he going to react if you break his only daughter's heart?" James asked. Sirius rolled his eyes, for all his bravery, James was the first one to panic.

"It won't happen again, there feel better?" He asked James.

"No!" He said loudly. Sirius looked up at him and raised an eyebrow.

"What were you doing messing around with her anyways?" James asked haughtily, reminding Sirius an awful lot like Evans at the moment.

"Testing a theory," Sirius answered vaguely. He knew that the answer would irritate the other boy to no end. Unsurprisingly James made a displeased noise as he sat down on the edge of his bed, which of course was next to Sirius'.

"A theory," he repeated in disbelief.

"The necklace she wears," Sirius said after a moment. James cocked his head to the side in curiousity.

"It's…I need to know how she got it."

"Why? It's just a necklace." James asked.

"Remember how your parents gave you that ring last year? The one with the black diamond?" Sirius asked. James nodded slowly.

"That necklace is the Black Family version of it. The Potter's family stone is the Black Diamond; ours has always been obsessed with pearls, because of their magical properties. Plus women love them." He explained.

"You gave it to her?!" James' voice rose to a yelp. Sirius looked over at him to see a very strangled looking boy.

"No." He said after a moment. Sirius was having to debate just what he should tell his mate.

"She stole it?"

"No. I pawned it last year after I was disowned." Sirius said after a moment. He felt bad lying to his best mate, but he wanted to figure out what was going on for himself before someone else did.

"Sirius! Do you know how dangerous that is? What if your mum found out? She'd torture you if she knew you off selling heirlooms!" James yelled. Sirus was sitting up by this point and shrugged at him.

"That was kind of the point." He said. James stared at him flustered. Sirius knew that he was about to explode.

"Besides, since I didn't give it to her, nor did I make the oath it's irrelevant. There's no harm in allowing her to wear it. As long as my parents don't see it, who cares?" James' jaw had dropped.

"What if someone else recognizes it?" he bellowed.

"Then they'll just assume we're dating." Sirius said nonchalantly.

"Sirius this isn't something you can be apathetic about!" James yelled.

"The clasp is still there. Which means it isn't active. You are freaking out for no reason mate. There's no reason to panic." Sirius said calmly.

"Now if you're going to be a woman about it, I will have to demand that you leave me alone." Sirius said. James gave a frustrated growl before storming out the door. His exit only added more to Sirius' worries. He'd never lied so much to James before.

It worried him.

* * *

"Why did you drag me all the way up to Hogsmeade, only to meet in the back room at The Hogshead?" Sirius ignored his cousin's question as he began warding everything in sight. He threw up every spell in his repertoire to ensure that they weren't overheard.

"Sirius," his cousin tried again.

"Not until I'm sure that no one can hear us, Andromeda." Sirius said harshly. She looked at him surprised before nodding. His older cousin pulled her own wand out and started adding spells. After ten minutes they sat down, each slightly out of breath.

"Now, what is going on? You've not been this panicked since you shoved Reggie out a third floor window and needed help saving him." She said with a small grin. Leave it to Andy to make light of the situation.

"I need to ask you something. You cannot repeat it. No one must know what I'm about to tell you." Sirius said gravely. Andromeda sat up at his tone. She nodded in a way that matched his tone.

"You have my word," she said demurely.

"Our family gives the heirs each an heirloom that is keyed for them upon their birth. It will only work for them until their death, and in some cases, their spouse's death as well. You know what I'm talking about?" Andromeda nodded as she stared at him.

"Yes, mother gave me our family's bracelet for my eighteenth birthday. She was furious that I had it before I was disowned." Andy said. Sirius nodded and had it been other circumstances he would have smiled.

"I received the pearl necklace. You know the one I speak of—goblin made, wild pearls each handpicked—the one that everyone in the family covets. It goes to the—"

"The first born son of the first born heir going as far back as beginning of line," Andromeda finished for him. He nodded.

"You were always interested in family heirlooms, and I know that your mother allowed you to research them. Can you tell me if there's any way that they can be stolen?" Sirius asked. Andromeda's eyes widened in shock.

"It was stolen?" she whispered horrified.

"Sirius they're going to kill you. Do you know how much that's worth alone? Not to mention the consequences of the magic itself?" Andy asked.

"I know where it's at.." Sirius said calmly.

"Good."

"I need to know if I can reclaim it if a young lady took it and is wearing it." He said after a moment.

"Certainly, as long as you didn't place it around her neck, and say the vows. The clasp will not have disappeared until you do so." Andromeda said. Sirius nodded, as he already knew that information.

"There's more you're not telling me." Andromeda said after a moment. Sirius sighed heavily before continuing to explain the situation.

"I checked the necklace, when she was distracted. There's no longer a clasp. I have been able to feel her emotions when she is in dangerous and highly stressed. Not to mention it seems to stir up—er it, you see—it makes me want to do things." He stumbled over the last sentences, turning red. It was only an effect that his favorite cousin had on him. normally she would tease him for such a reaction but instead she only looked at him horrified.

"Sirius, are you sure that you didn't say the vows?" She whispered.

"I won't be upset if you did, I mean goodness knows I broke the family rules." She said softly.

"I swear that I never said them. I never gave her the necklace. She just showed up out of the blue with it on. What do I do to get it back?" Sirius said defensively. Andromeda shook her head and looked at him sadly.

"Sirius, love, there's no way to get it back. The old magic is already invoked. The only way that necklace is coming off is if she dies and not only are you not capable of doing so, that necklace's magic forbids you from harming the wearer. In fact it affords her quite a bit of protection." Andromeda explained.

"Please tell me you're not serious."

"Sadly, I have never been more so in my life."

Sirius swore before running a hand down his face. His thoughts were racing so quickly that he didn't know if he could voice them. Andromeda waited patiently for him to deal with it internally.

"I've never met her before this year, and the necklace was in my possession until she showed up." Sirius said after a moment. Andromeda's only reaction was to raise her eyebrow.

"There are legends, hidden deep within our family," she began after a moment. He looked at her confused about where she was taking the conversation.

"Of these pieces having such a powerful magic that oddities—even for our world—would happen. I came across one learning that after wishing for the location of his soul mate, while holding the heirloom bequeathed to him, it brought her to him." Andromeda explained.

"She had grown up in Germany, despite being from an English pureblood family They never would have met without the influence of that heirloom. There is another in which an heir didn't meet the love of his life until she was on her deathbed. He put the necklace on her neck, just in time, but according to the stories, she didn't die, she disappeared. Supposedly, as the story goes, history changed. The heir's wife had walked into the room he was standing in and kissed him. She was perfectly healthy and she was the woman who had been on the deathbed minutes beforehand.

"After quizzing her, the heir learned that they had met just after college, as a result of an accident. They had three children. The heir had new memories, in addition to his original." Andromeda explained, as Sirius stared at her.

"Both of those ancestor's have something in common. They are the firstborn's of our family; descended from Phineas Nigellus Black, the first and only son of the line who had children. The heirlooms are the same; the one that was bequeathed to you." Andromeda explained.

"Where'd you hear about them?" Sirius asked hoarsely as he attempted to wrap his head around the idea that magical object could somehow locate and transport someone backwards in space and time.

"Different tomes that were a part of the Black Family libraries, in addition to several different stories that I collected from various relatives; Aunt Cassiopeia was always a rather marvelous gossip and she provided several chunks. Grandmother Violetta had even more to share. It's largely speculation, even amongst the family. All of it kept exceedingly hushed up." Andromeda explained.

"I'd try not to think about it, it'll warp your mind." She said as an afterthought. Sirius shook his head with a sarcastic laugh.

"What do I do?"

"Get to know your betrothed."


	18. All is Lost

_All the pieces fell today _  
_Put them together _  
_Watched them fall apart _  
_and I just walk away._

* * *

November 1976

Once Halloween had passed, the tension between the Gryffindors had settled down. The house was no longer full of anger and animosity. Students weren't afraid that duels were about to break out in the common room any longer. Had anyone in the school been asked who Miss Dumbledore was friends with; they would've answered without hesitation that she was a Marauder; unless of course you asked her. Sirius had gone out of his way to befriend the girl and his efforts had resulted with her inclusion with the four teenage boys. He had used Lily to push her closer to them, and she took the opportunity to become friends with her as well.

Hermione had lost the rest of the month to slaving over researching time travel, despite her lack of progress. She buried herself further into her research, often times going without food and sleep. She attributed it to working too hard when others inquired about her new habits. Hermione found herself growing more and more thankful that she was repeating sixth year, as it didn't require hardly any studying on her part. She would review for tests, but all of her other normal study time was devoted to researching how to send herself home. It was dinner time, but she was headed to the Room of Requirement. She'd picked up several books at the last Hogsmeade trip that had looked promising.

"Nice try." The silky voice of her future professor sounded from her right, and she flinched in surprise, grateful that she didn't let out a shriek, at least until he hit her with an immobilizing spell and picked her up. Severus didn't waste any time in throwing her over her shoulder, much like Sirius had done before and strode towards the Great Hall. Despite her ire, she had to admit that Severus had planned well. She would never have expected him to help her.

"I found this one, trying to avoid dinner yet again. She is to eat something." Severus ordered as he deposited her on the bench next to the Marauders. Hermione found that her upper body was able to move once again, only to become more irritated to realize that Severus had modified the spell. She was unable to utilize her legs, and by proxy was stuck.

"Sure thing Snape." Sirius didn't acknowledge him other than the statement, which was shocking enough to hear him be polite.

"You'll need this," Severus added as he handed over her wand. Hermione was so shocked by their cooperation that she wasn't able to voice her anger. The Slytherin had disappeared, and when Hermione finally turned to yell at Sirius for this stupidity, she realized that he had a plateful of food sitting in front of her.

"Do you want to explain why you and Severus are now friends?" She asked him while pointedly ignoring her food. Sirius finished chewing before shaking his head.

"We're not friends. We're both friends with you, and you're going to kill yourself. We refuse to allow that to happen. The Greasy Git is a means to an end, one where you're not dead by Christmas." Sirius answered as he looked over at her. The rest of the Marauders were pretending to ignore their conversation.

"Now eat."

"No."

"Hermione, you haven't eaten for days." Sirius said quietly. He was leaning into her, whispering in her ear, so that only she could hear him.

"I've been going to the kitchens," she said defensively.

"Nice try firecracker, but I know better than that." Sirius said. Hermione wanted to punch him. His tone was dripping with smugness. No doubt he'd been following her with the Marauder's Map. She stared at the food on the plate in front of her with disdain. Not only did she no longer want to eat out of spite, but she just didn't have an appetite.

"You're not leaving until you eat something." Sirius murmured to her again. She stared at the plate before picking up a fork and attempting to take a bite of the pasta. It tasted like sawdust in her mouth. She chewed slowly, willing herself to actually eat it. To her surprise she was able to get swallow it. Looking at the rest of the bowl, she already knew that she wasn't going to be able to eat it, so what was the point in even trying? He was watching her out of the corner of her eye, so she started twirling her food around her fork, attempting to distract him enough from the fact that she wasn't eating.

It was a good ten minutes later when she started eyeing the pocket her wand was currently being held hostage in. She'd learned the past few times that he'd stolen it, that his robes had anti-summoning charms on the pockets, no doubt to prevent thieves from attempting to rob him. it irritated her. If she had her wand, she could slowly start to banish the food.

_ "Evanesco!" _She said it clearly in her head, but nothing changed. Hermione glared at her plate, as she repeated the word in her head. With each failed attempt, she became more determined to succeed. It was by the tenth try that she was so frustrated she forced herself to take a deep breath and re-evaluate how she was going about it.

"_Evanesco_," Hermione thought as she pictured the food disappearing. There was still no reaction, nothing even so much as shifted. Dinner turned into one large attempt to vanish her food, wandlessly and silently. It didn't take long for her to forget why exactly she had started on this venture. Despite her frustration, Hermione became fascinated with the fact that she was—for the first time in her life—not figuring something out the minute she attempted it.

She started staring at her plate trying to decipher whether or not there was a spell on it preventing her from completing her goal. After several minutes of inactivity, she returned to examining her theory of how wandless magic should work. When McGonagall had taught her sixth year class about nonverbal spells, they had to clearly say the incantation in their mind, while using their wand to create the necessary movements. She bit her lip, attempting to figure it out. The two had to share something in common, other than the fact that it required, thinking the spell.

"_Wand…movements…_" The brunette wanted to smack herself the moment the thought drifted across her mind. OF course that's what she was lacking. She went back to staring at her plate as she banished every thought other than the specific wand movements of the vanishing spell.

"_Evanesco_," she thought clearly, as she imagined the wand motions. Almost instantly, the plate beneath her food disappeared from sight, causing everything to drop three inches onto the table. Hermione stared at it, torn between being upset about missing her target, and being delighted that she figured it out.

"Uhh….Hermione, what happened to your plate?" Remus' question dragged her attention back to her surroundings and she saw that all of the Marauders were staring at her with curious expressions. She bit her lip before shrugging. Sirius, however, erupted into laughter. Everyone turned to stare at him in surprise.

"She vanished it." He explained still laughing. Hermione knew she was blushing. Sirius tossed her wand to her, as he released the spell on her.

"Think of it as a reward for attempting something so sneaky." He said still laughing.

"Wait, I'm confused," James said.

"Little Miss Dumbledore here was trying to vanish her food, _wandlessly_." Sirius whispered conspiratorially. He was grinning at her cheekily which just furthered her blush. There were other students looking down the table in their direction, trying to figure out what Sirius had found so funny.

"Hermione, I need to drop my stuff off in the dormitory would you go with me?" Lily asked as she stopped by on her way out. Hermione nodded and got up to follow her. James barely waited until they were out of earshot before he started questioning Sirius.

"Mate why are you so concerned with her; she's just a bird." He said under his breath. Sirius raised an eyebrow at him without saying anything.

"It's killing your reputation." He added at the last minute. Sirius looked over at his best mate and still chose not to say anything. James was attempting to appeal to his childish side; he had after all worked for years to cultivate a particular legacy at Hogwarts. He was the school heartthrob. Girl's lined up, one after the other to have a go with him, and ever since Hermione walked into his life, he hadn't batted an eye at anyone.

"Am I not allowed to like a bird?" He asked James after a moment. Remus and Peter were watching them both exceedingly close for any sign of a fight that might break out. James didn't seem to have been expecting that particular response and he fumbled for an answer for several seconds.

"I don't see why not as long as it doesn't change your behavior, and now I hardly recognize you!" He blurted out after a moment. Remus and Peter immediately started sniggering, with muttered comments about how much of a bird James was turning into.

"Funny, since you've had your head up Evan's arse for years." Sirius replied calmly as he took another bite of food. James gaped at him for a few seconds.

"That's different; at least I'm consistent in my behavior!" He bellowed, drawing more attention. Sirius watched him curiously.

"Mate why are you being such a girl about it? I am allowed to have female friends, just as I'm allowed to have interest in females." Sirius asked.

"We know nothing about her! She could be a Death Eater for all you know! She's nothing but a nutter." James hissed across the table. Sirius, Remus, and Peter all stared at James, as though he'd lost his head.

"Do you really think this is a conversation that we should be having here?" Remus asked quietly. His voice drew both Sirius and James' attention. They both looked up at each other before getting up and walking away from one another.

"It has been brought to my attention that you've been missing meals to study." Uncle Albus said. He looked at her, for once lacking the irritating twinkle in his eye. Hermione was sitting in his office instead of her Transfiguration class.

"I know that you wish to return home, but my dear it isn't a possibility."

"According to whom?" Hermione asked. She looked up at her uncle with a strange bitterness on her tongue. It wasn't like her to disrespect her elders, and Dumbledore had always been someone that she had admired. He gave her a small smile.

"You have a valid point." He said after a moment. She was surprised at his agreement.

"However, time has accepted you into its fabric. You wouldn't have been able to stay this long if you weren't apart of this time. Time would have either destroyed you or returned you back to your time." He said.

"I've never heard of that theory," she said after a moment. The Headmaster smiled slightly before continuing his explanation.

"It is something that most people are aware of, as it is heavily based upon theory. Very few have the stomach for it." He poured a cup of tea for each of them, before gesturing over her to join him at the small table that he kept in the corner of the room. Once they were seated their conversation continued.

"If it's based heavily on theory, then who's to say that there isn't a way forward?" She asked. Albus shrugged with a small grin.

"It depends upon your definition of time. Either it's impossible to change, or a single action will change everything." He mused aloud.

"Is everything black and white with you?" Hermione blurted out. She felt her eyes widen in horror at the disrespectful manner she had just displayed. To her relief Albus started laughing uproariously.

"Merlin no, but there are some things that just cleanly fall into two different categories. That isn't to say there are sub categories. It is my personal belief that if someone changed just one little thing, then it would set off a chain reaction." He explained.

"Meaning what exactly?" Hermione asked as an intense feeling of dread started growing in her stomach.

"Your presence here was not in the original timeline. You were not meant to be here, and yet here you are. By meeting Minerva the way you did, you have changed her first impression of you—which is considered rather insignificant. Joining the family was a step that resulted in a bigger change. Consider it as though you threw a stone in a pond, each change being a ripple.

"Even if all you had done was just meet Minerva, it would be enough to change everything." Albus said after a moment.

"What are you saying?" Hermione asked.

"The future that you came from, I don't believe it exists any longer. In fact I think it was destroyed the moment that you left it." Albus said after a moment.

* * *

_Nearly-All Is Lost_


	19. Fletcher Meets Dad

_I hear something hanging on the wind_  
_I see black smoke up around the bend_  
_I've got my ticket and I'm going to go home_

* * *

"Are you staying for Christmas?" Severus asked her as he handed her the silver knife that she'd requested. They were in the dungeons working on their final project that Professor Slughorn had assigned their class. Hermione had been pleasantly surprised when Severus asked her to be partners, although it was really more of a statement than a question at the time.

"No." The word slipped out of Hermione's mouth before she managed to even consider the question. She herself was stunned at the finality that her tone held upon uttering the answer. Severus didn't even look taken aback at the thought. They had just a few weeks before term ended and the school would be empty. Hermione honestly hadn't given the matter a single thought. Normally she spent Christmas with her parents and Boxing Day with the Weasleys. Now though she didn't have that option. She supposed that at the very least, there might have been an expectation to spend it with her "family," but the very idea made her feel ill.

It'd been almost a month since that day in her Uncle's office; Albus' office. The whole title change was too familiar, too awkward, too weird, even after nearly an entire term at Hogwarts under the farce. She needed to go home. The boys needed her. A small part of her wondered if her new family had an ulterior motive in keeping her here. She brushed the thought away, knowing that it was absurd. Dumbledore wouldn't jeopardize the timeline if he had another alternative. Despite that knowledge, she couldn't let go of the feeling that there was some loophole.

"Hand me the Bubble Juice will you?" Severus asked her, holding his hand out. She complied quickly and began scribbling notes as he added the liquid. When planning their project they had both agreed that it was imperative that a log was kept of each and every step with a time stamp to accompany it. Neither had said it, but in the event that they somehow managed to make something of actual value, they needed to be able to replicate it again.

They were attempting to create a Restorative Draft with a twist. The Bubble Juice was intended to actually create large bubbles upon release of the potion, and ultimately heal more people with less of it. Slughorn had practically passed them both based on the very idea of the potion. Upon realizing that Hermione was confused about their teacher's enthusiastic response, Severus had muttered about how the majority of students were inept at creating new ideas, much less decent potions. This was their third variation of the potion. The first hadn't contained the healing properties, it was just a test to see if their idea was even a possibility and the second had been the first attempt at combining healing properties.

"What about you?" Hermione asked after she'd finished writing down that the bubble juice had been properly added and stirred in for fifteen half turns. Severus turned the potion down to simmer and then cast a stasis charm.

"I was considering staying, although I don't particularly care to do so. I'd rather not have to deal with your bratty friends. More often than not they do something stupid and rude." Hermione rolled her eyes at his response.

"Well lucky for you they're all going home." She told him. He seemed remarkably cheered by the statement.

"Is Lily?" Severus asked quietly. Hermione nearly missed the question altogether.

"I believe she was planning on it." The brunette answered softly. Severus nodded after a moment. Not a word was spoken as they finished up their steps for the rest of the evening. It wasn't until Hermione was about to walk out of the room when she turned to look at her friend.

"Severus, talk to her." He shook his head at her and Hermione uttered a sigh as she waved goodbye to him while heading upstairs. She was growing incredibly sick of the behavior between Lily and Severus. They would sit there and throw these longing looks at one another, and yet never noticed it was a mutual action. Originally Hermione had thought Lily had developed feelings for Severus, but then she began to notice that Lily would lean into Harry's dad at the most random times.

They had a week until Christmas holiday. Well, less than that really, they were leaving on Sunday and it was already Tuesday evening. Gryffindor Tower had been abuzz with holiday plans, and Hermione had been lucky to have escaped most of the questions about what she was going to do; walking into the portrait hole though that evening, her luck ran out.

"Hermione!" James called her name, catching her eye from in front of the fire place. She felt as though someone had shot her. The Marauders, and Lily were sitting in _their _spot; the very place where Hermione, Ron, and Harry always spent their time. In her own time, Gryffindor had given up in trying to sit there because they all knew Ron would remove them. As they got older, it became a sign of respect for the younger years. A silent rule that everyone followed. James was sitting on the ground with his back to the couch—exactly how is son would sit in another decade or two—and it was too much for her to bear.

She was staring like a deer in the headlights at him. Normally she would've scanned the room to see how many students were also present—and who was in attendance, yet she only could stare at James. The sudden touch on her waist was what startled her. Hermione felt her instincts take over as she threw her right elbow upwards, over her shoulder. Despite hearing and feeling it connect with someone's nose, she swiveled around until she had the individual in a headlock with her wand at their throat. Her back was against the nearest wall and she realized that her eye contact was still locked onto James Potter who looked utterly horrified while simultaneously thrilled. He had risen to a standing position, but hadn't moved beyond that.

"Sprite," the calm, although somewhat strained voice was coming from the individual that she had in a tight hold. She shoved him away as though he were a viper upon realizing that it was Sirius. A quick, wide eyed glance confirmed that the entire common room was staring at her. No one was speaking, instead she'd managed to capture their attention. The Black Heir somehow managed to ease her into his grasp and tow her over to the rest of the group, although Peter looked absolutely terrified of her. Sirius sat her down next to him on the couch, even so she was practically balancing on the edge, as though she were about to bolt.

"Your reactions are amazing," James said sounding awestruck. Lily pursed her lips in disapproval. Hermione's eyes snapped to him and she felt them widen when she realized that he was being genuine. She heard herself mutter a thank you.

"How do you drill something like that?" He asked curiously. Hermione opened her mouth to bitterly tell him that one did not "drill" reactions like hers. She mentally heard herself say that all you needed to do was live through a war, watch dozens of your friends die, be tortured, and live through a number of other horrors. Instead what she answered him quietly with a much simpler version.

"Lots of practice."

James started nodding as a look of determination settled onto his features. It only made him look all the more like Harry, and it broke her heart. There was an awkward silence in which Hermione began staring into the flames of the fire.

"Hermione?" The sound of her named jarred her attention back to the group and she turned to look at Lily. The expression on the redhead's face left no room for doubt that it hadn't been the first time Lily had called her name.

"Are you going home for the holidays?" She asked hesitating a bit. The words were out of Hermione's mouth before she could think them out.

"No. I'm staying here."

* * *

On the day that term ended, Hermione woke up determined with a very rough sketch of a plan. Getting out of the school was going to be the tricky part. She didn't want Severus to see her lurking around the castle, nor did she need the Marauders or Lily catching her on the train. She banished her trunk to her London flat the moment her roommates' had disappeared from the dormitory. Afraid that they would try to force her to walk down to the carriages with them, Hermione had opted to slip out of the common room at the earliest convenience. Upon escaping she headed straight for the one eyed witch statue that hid the secret tunnel leading into Honey Dukes. It took her less than five minutes to reach the cellar trap door, and she took the opportunity to cast a disillusionment charm upon her. Luckily the store was empty, and it took seconds to reach the back door; the moment that she was firmly in the alley behind the candy shop, Hermione apparated away.

"Watch where 'yer going brat." A gruff voice growled at her upon her arrival in the alley outside of Diagon Alley. A man pushed past her roughly causing her to stumble painfully into the brick wall. Thankfully she caught herself with her hand before banging her head against the bricks. She glared at him spitefully and without thinking she tripped him with a jinx. The man hit the ground with a thud, landing primarily on his face. He picked himself up awkwardly, spewing curses as he did so.

"Cor Blimey! You bint! You bloody mad?" He was holding his nose which was dribbling blood. She looked at him unimpressed and unapologetically.

"You're the git who pushed a girl into a brick wall." Hermione pointed out coolly. He was still holding his nose. The man glanced over her shoulder before explaining angrily to her.

"Yer daft! What'chu effing expect from apparatin in the middle of the road?" He hissed back at her.

"Perhaps you should not be a wanker, and actually watch where you're going instead of trying to steal from someone." Hermione said icily.

"Hold on then, you accusin me of scrummping?" He asked indignantly.

"You can either give me my wallet back or I can break your nose further." Hermione said with a slight shrug of her shoulders. The man backed up away from her slightly, looking as though he was about to sprint away. She went with her instincts and silently cast a leg locker curse on him. It was one of Severus' inventions and only targeted the shins down. Not to mention it was didn't react until the victim tried to bolt. Her caution paid off because with two seconds the man did try to bolt, only to trip from the force of the spell against the motion he'd made. It resulted in a loud, and painful sounding crunch as his nose broke his fall. Summoning her wallet out of his coat pocket Hermione dropped it into her bag.

"I'm impressed you managed to lift it off of me, next time though I advise you don't try to steal from me ever again. You must be desperate if you honestly think you'd get away with stealing in broad day light here of all places. You're rather out of place here aren't you?" Hermione asked.

"Bird's daft. Yer standing on the edge of Knockturn Alley." The man muttered with a shake of her head. Hermione looked around herself with wide eyes and she realized that he was right.

"I thought—"

"What? That you were in Diagon Alley's entrance? You bleedin stupid?" He asked her as he started to laugh.

"Clearly you thought so since you decided to steal from me." Hermione said regaining her cold tone.

"I wonder," she murmured with a glint in her eye. Without a word she cast a summoning charm on any object that he didn't own on his person and wasn't surprised to see several wallets fly her way. Conjuring a small drawstring pouch she deposited all of the discoveries into it. The man was staring at her horrified and he seemed to have quite forgotten that his nose was still dripping with blood.

"That should teach you not to take what's yours." Hermione said tauntingly. She turned, confident in her handiwork to leave and run her errands which required a visit to not only the ministry, but also the muggle department, the Office of National Statistics. She would also need a phone book.

Unfortunately Hermione only managed to take two steps before she was shoved forcefully to the ground. This time her head did in fact slam into the cobblestones. Hermione groaned, slightly stunned as she prayed that she hadn't bruised her face again. It had just finished healing.

The man was rummaging for the stolen wallets she'd taken from him, wait no….he was trying to find her wallet. She heard him muttering a spell and then a gasp of delight.

"What the bleeding hell? How deep is this bag?" Hermione dimly realized that he was attempting to look in her satchel and she attempted to push him away. Her head was still spinning, more so with each movement that she made.

It seemed like all at once that the man was suddenly thrown backwards into the wall. Hermione was sitting up in time to see a very familiar figure shaking in anger as he dealt with the man.

"Fletcher!" He bellowed. Hermione started checking her bag the moment she had her wits about her, to make sure that she still had it.

"My 'pologies mate. Sneaky little bint tried to rob me. Can you really fault me for recovering stolen property that she nicked?" The man was babbling incoherently, no doubt in an attempt to wrestle out of the grip that the newcomer had him in. Not my fault she's off her trolley!"

"If she's hurt or damaged in any way!"

"She's a nobody!" Fletcher protested.

"You're lucky that there's a death sentence for murder and that you're not worth a minute in Azkaban. If I ever see you near her again I will kill you." He flung Fletcher away from him and he skidded on the ground before disapperating.

"What are you doing here?" The question was harsh, and he pulled her roughly to her feet once he reached her side. Hermione staggered backwards a few steps, before locating her wand so that it was in her hand again.

" You're meant to be at school, not in Knockturn Alley. Don't you know how dangerous it is to be here? Especially alone and as a female?! You're lucky you just ran into Fletcher and no one worse. Does your uncle know you're here? I can't believe he let you go off on your own, he's just as daft as you are." He glared at her waiting for an answer to his numerous questions. Hermione swallowed dryly before speaking.

"Hello to you too _Dad_."

* * *

_My Father's Father-Civil Wars_


	20. Saeclum Aevus Locus

_The leaves have changed a time or two_  
_Since the last time the train came through_  
_I got my ticket and I'm going to go home_

* * *

Aberforth Dumbledore had practically dragged her out of the alley—there were apparently numerous entrances and exits—and into a tavern located in a dark niche behind Whizz Hard Books. He ordered them two butterbeers and pulled out a pipe lighting it with a wave of his hand. He looked at Hermione with a squint for several moments before talking. She felt oddly comfortable, yet as though she was about to be grounded. It was an odd experience after not having any parents for several years.

"How'd you get from Kings Cross here?" He asked gruffly, reminding her of Mad Eye Moody. The tavern was empty except for them, and they were sitting in the corner, opposite the door.

"I didn't exactly take the train home." She mumbled before taking a drink of the butterbeer in front of her. Her answer resulted in an eyebrow raise from her adoptive father.

"You apparated."

"Manage to mess up my landing." Hermione said. To her surprise, Aberforth threw his head back and laughed.

"Let me guess, you didn't tell Albus." He asked. Hermione shook her head.

"That may have slipped my mind."

"I'm not surprised. Your uncle thinks he knows everything. He always was a bit of a swat. Even when we were kids, Albus knows best." He grumbled.

"Is that why you agreed to this?" Hermione asked. He looked up at her, eyes wide with surprise. He took a drink before answering her.

"I agreed to do _this, _because I wanted to. My brother and his plans have nothing to do with my decisions." He seemed almost angry with her for suggesting that Albus had any sway over him. He took another deep inhale of the pipe before continuing to speak.

"You don't trust anyone." It wasn't a question and she knew it. Hermione gave a slight shrug.

"Why should I?" She asked.

"Gets lonely always living on your own; not trusting people requires an inhumane amount of energy." He commented.

"It's safer than getting a knife in your back." She answered bitterly. The man across from her threw his head back and laughed.

"My dear older brother certainly knows how to pick them. He's always favored the type that has an agenda of their own. You can see it in the eyes; a spark—often the only indicator that they're alive—that just won't evaporate. Yours is the most intriguing that I've ever seen, and by far it's the most intense." Aberforth said looking directly at her. Hermione had to admit that for a pub owner he was quite eloquent in his speech, but she supposed that was a result of his being a Dumbledore.

"So tell me, girl, what's your plan? What are you going to do with that spark?"

"I plan on going home." Hermione said.

"Even if it's impossible?"

"Nothing is impossible." Her tone left no room for argument. She didn't have the stomach for it.

"Your uncle disagrees. He thinks you're going to do yourself more damage than good by constantly chasing down different ways to get back home." Aberforth said.

"Isn't it better that I get it out of my system?" She asked with a slight smile.

"Not if you're dead." His tone was harsh, but his lips had quirked upwards as well.

"Listen kid. I've been around long enough to know that magic and time don't mix well. They're two very different substances that like to do their own thing, and upon occasion they will rub up against each other to activate certain incidents. You're one of those incidents." Aberforth said turning back to his pipe.

"Hate to burst your bubble _Dad_, but kids typically don't want to hear about how their parents conceived them." Hermione said with a straight face. She hadn't meant to let the statement slip out, but a year of hanging around with George after his twin's death had rubbed off on her. Their humor had lined up in quite a surprising way, and ultimately she grew into a bit of a smart ass. That particular side of her often popped up at the most inconvenient of times. Aberforth had choked on the inhale that he had just taken, and then proceeded to laugh for a good ten minutes.

"It's what happens when you forget to use protection. So don't have sex once you're my age. The dementia starts to set in, and the next thing you know you're one night's stand shows up saying you've got a kid at ninety-one." He said after his breathing was regulated. Hermione started laughing hysterically at the answer.

"Happy to know what to tell people when they ask about Mum," She muttered.

"Does this conversation end in you scolding me for trying to find a way to go home?" Hermione asked. A puff of smoke wafted out of Aberforth's pipe before she received a reply.

"Let me guess. The swot told you that there was nothing to go back to and you should just give up?" He asked her. She nodded curious to how he had managed to parrot it back to him.

"He means well. He might do some stupid shit, but he does it with good intentions." Aberforth said. Hermione raised an eyebrow at him. The admission had sounded as though someone had literally dragged it out of his mouth via torture.

"Time is inescapable. There's no way to run from it, hide from it, or ultimately beat it. The only option is to go along with it, wherever it takes you. Magic will upon occasion brush up against it, bringing about miracles and impossibilities."

"You talk of time as if it's a person." Hermione commented.

"That she is, fickle and prone to displays of temper. My advice, be cautious. Punishment is swift and brutal when messing with her plans." Aberforth warned. Hermione looked at her bottle despairingly.

"You don't think I should bother," she muttered dejectedly.

"No. Albus doesn't want you to look. Do what you want, but cautiously. Just don't do anything stupid, such as strollin down Knockturn Alley by yourself." Aberforth said.

"What are you doing here then?" Hermione asked.

"Looking at new suppliers for the bar, this Voldemort idiot's activity has begun to affect my business. Suppliers keep shutting their doors or driving their prices up. You're lucky that I happened along when I did. Fletcher's not exactly one you should get to know. For the most part he's harmless, but he does have some shady dealings." Hermione looked at Aberforth confused for a moment.

He had scraggly red hair, although it was fuller than she remembered, and a slimly disposition. Her eyes widened in realization.

"That was Mundungus Fletcher?" She hissed.

"I take it you know him."

"I can't believe I didn't recognize him that creep." Hermione hissed. She had half a mind to storm out of the pub and track him down so she could beat him to death. Aberforth chuckled.

"Well girl. I will see you Christmas Day. Albus is insisting on throwing a luncheon. It's going to be at Minerva's." Aberforth said as he clamored to his feet. Hermione looked up surprised at the abrupt departure.

"Oh you might need this if you plan on searching the Ministry of Magic's library." Aberforth said as he discreetly slid her a personal badge.

"No need to draw unnecessary suspicion." He was gone before she could ask him how he had known her intentions. She looked at the badge and saw that it said Lucretia Malfoy. The woman had brown hair as well, although Hermione had her doubts about how this would work. She tucked it into her pocket before exiting the pub herself. There was a small quirk to her lips. Aberforth was quite the character and she was quite dismayed that she hadn't gotten to know him in her own timeline. It would make leaving this one a bit more difficult.

* * *

The Ministry of Magic's library was exactly the same as when she remembered it, no doubt minus a few books or two. She had utilized this library more than she could count in her own time, and was quickly becoming very grateful for that fact. It enabled her to avoid all of the typical ministry workers.

"Never thought I'd be glad that the Ministry is so predictable and stuck in its ways," she muttered as she dodged yet another librarian. The librarians were actually required to have full auror training in addition to their doctorates in historical books. It was a little known fact that was deemed necessary in the event that anyone needed to be removed and was uncooperative. In addition to the fact that many of the books fell under the genre of "dark magic" and aurors were the only ones deemed fit to combat such materials.

Before the war the position had appealed to her, although she'd never voiced it to Harry or Ron. They would have had a conniption, never letting her live down her "bookworm" status. It was bad enough without their input. Had she seriously considered it afterwards, she would've just ignored them, but by the time they "graduated" Hermione had no interest in school. While she still loved to learn, she'd long outgrown it. Instead she had been training to be an unspeakable, who was also undergoing auror training under orders from Kingsley. It had been an effort to keep the Golden Trio together and recruit more aurors to help defend from Voldemort.

While the "Final Battle" hadn't ended the war, nor eliminated Voldemort, it had handed the Ministry back to the Order of Phoenix. She still didn't understand what happened exactly, mostly due to the lack of information since she'd been living in the middle of the woods for the better part of the year. They kept a hold of the Ministry long enough to gain an upper hand as well as for Hermione, Ron, and Harry to complete training—well sort of.

She'd entered one of the less used entrances to the library, which meant she only had to scan herself in with the badge. There was no guard to converse with, which made it all the more easier to impersonate a Malfoy. Hermione walked casually down the rows, taking a left, moving past three more aisles before taking another left. It was then that she was standing in front of the books on time travel. This section had always been closely guarded, only certain individuals with permission were able to access these books.

It took a good twenty minutes before she found any titles that even sounded promising. Most authors had little authority on the matter, and it generally all theory. The first tomb she removed was one that was considered very dark, and the only way she was able to grab it was because of the gloves she'd lifted off of one the librarians she'd passed. That was another thing she'd learned from Sirius, who had been taught by "Dung." Within moments she'd had it concealed behind a muggle book flap which she'd removed from the non-magical section. Ten minutes later and she was sitting with a total of three books at a desk in the back corner of the stacks.

Ultimately she spent a total of four hours there, not daring to press her luck any further. There was one passage that she found and knew upon reading it that it was her only hope of making it back home. She manually wrote it down, knowing that the Ministry tracked magical copies made of texts. Once finished she shoved it into her pocket where the badge was and left the library.

_Saeclum Aevus Locus _

_A spell of ancient times that has long been forgotten, lost, and banned due to misuse. This is the last of the official surviving text. The original spell was designed to correct the misfortune of an individual stuck in a different time than they belonged to. By staying in the incorrect time location, the very fabric of time was believed to have suffered, although certain theorists have argued that it was more for the individuals peace of mind. _

_This particular spell was abused through individuals attempting to use it as the foundation for time travel out of their own natural time locations. Each and every individual who attempted to use this spell for such a purpose all succumbed to great misfortune and disaster. Time is a cruel mistress who punishes all who attempt to harm her and her plots. For those unlucky few who are indeed trapped outside of their own natural time location the antidote is simple, yet dangerous. _

_All one needs to do is to add the blood of a direct relative—it is extremely important that it be a DIRECT BLOOD RELATIVE—to a Dispareo Tempus potion. The only difference being that upon completion of the potion, the maker adds in a pint of blood by slowly stirring counterclockwise for one hundred and sixty turns while slowly adding the blood. It must be added evenly, and once completely added, another one hundred and sixty turns clockwise must be completed. It is only to be drunk at the quarter moon. _

Walking out of the Ministry of Magic, Hermione knew that all she needed was data from the most recent census and a phone book.

* * *

_My Father's Father-Civil Wars_


	21. My Father's Father

_My father's father's blood is on the track_  
_A sweet refrain drifts in from the past_  
_I got my ticket and I'm going to go home_

* * *

_Christmas Day 1976_

"Hermione are you enjoying your Christmas break?" Minerva asked as she passed the platter of turkey to Aberforth. He accepted it with a grunt and looked at Hermione silently telling her to answer the question.

"It's been quiet." She said after a moment. Minerva looked up at her surprised.

"Have you been at the apartment by yourself the entire time?" Minerva asked her. Hermione nodded her head after taking a bite of food.

"Dear you were more than welcome to stay at Hogwarts with the other students." The transfiguration professor was looking at her with an expression that she hadn't seen for years, not since before her death. She remembered it vividly because she received it numerous times during her first year at Hogwarts, specifically prior to her friendship with Harry and Ron.

"I know. I just wanted some peace and quiet." Hermione answered. All three adults were studying her while each wearing different expressions. Aberforth looked unsurprised, while his brother was staring at her worriedly. Minerva on the other hand, had an expression that reminded her greatly of Mrs. Weasley when she was about to start mothering.

"Hermione now you know—."

"Albus can we please have one afternoon where we don't pretend?" Hermione asked, interrupting him. All she had wanted to do this Christmas break was find a way home. Yet here she was sitting at a fake family dinner. Ironically she was already picking a fight with a fake family member. It sure made it seem all the more real. Albus looked taken aback that a student had disrupted him from speaking and she wasn't surprised. Most individuals always wanted to hear his advice, and so they generally allowed him to say his bit. Minerva looked between the two before chiming in as well.

"We all know the truth. There's really no harm."

"What if it causes her to slip up? Quite a risk, are you sure you would be willing to allow someone to discover your presence here?" Albus asked.

"Three people have already discovered my presence, so we're a bit beyond that aren't we?" Hermione asked with a small quirk to her lips. Aberforth chuckled at the statement and took over the conversation, directing it away from the topic at hand.

"So girl tell me about these grades of yours and why they're not better. Albus tells me you're failing out of everything." Aberforth said sternly.

"Eh, I just don't really care about schoolwork." Hermione said with a shrug while looking at him dead in the eye. Minerva was watching her with a look of slight confusion, and the young witch knew that she was recalling a few of their conversations in which she'd mentioned how fascinated she was with learning.

Albus on the other hand was watching his brother and niece with interest and a slight smile. No doubt he was glad to see that part of his plan was coming together. He was a predictable wild card—an oxymoron that Hermione knew she could turn into an advantage—if she really did have to stay. She pushed the thought away immediately. There wasn't a reason to stay. In fact she was greatly needed at home on the front. Harry and Ron needed her.

"Perhaps Hermione's interest would be captivated in schoolwork more if she was learning something of value to her." Aberforth's comment caught everyone's attention and Minerva looked at him tensely. No doubt she found the comment rather insulting. To her credit though she didn't rise to any bait of an argument.

"Did you have a suggestion in mind?" The Scottish professor asked him. Hermione watched quietly from her seat, intrigued by what her adopted dad was scheming at.

"I want to teach her Occulemency," he said point blank. Minerva looked at him calmly for a moment, giving Aberforth one of her infamous looks that clearly said she'd humor him, but he had a short leash.

"She cannot miss classes at school, and that particular art requires time." Minerva countered.

"We'll keep it to three nights a week," Aberforth said. Hermione smothered a laugh at the fact that it had changed from a suggestion to a fact in two seconds flat.

"Are you planning on coming to the castle to do so?" Minerva asked. Aberforth immediately shook his head.

"Too complicated. We'd have to explain to the board why I was showing up three days a week. You know how that lot is, a bunch of duffers. They would demand paperwork, specifically a license. She'll just come down to the bar."

"Absolutely not, that place is far too rough for a young lady. How would you begin to explain to the board why a student needed to be out past curfew?" Minerva declared obviously scandalized by the very idea.

"I've been in the bar before." Hermione said with a slight grin on her face. Albus looked thoroughly amused by the horrified look on his Transfiguration professor's face at the thought of Hermione in Hogshead.

"What in Merlin's name were you doing there child?!"

"Starting a secret dueling club because the Defense Professor wouldn't teach us." Hermione answered nonchalantly. Albus frowned at her response and opened his mouth to begin questioning her.

"Ministry interference. You've got plenty of time." She said curbing his attempt to question her on the matter.

"Kid's right. Not to mention what the board doesn't know can't hurt them. Besides it's not your fault one of your students has the habit of sneaking out of the castle. You weren't aware." Aberforth said smirking. Minerva only looked more scandalized.

"The idea does seem to have merit." Albus mused aloud. Minerva looked ready to object at the location again, but held her tongue as the Headmaster continued speaking.

"However ultimately it's up to Hermione whether she wishes to partake in such lessons." All three adults looked at Hermione who grinned and accepted immediately. After the evening festivities were over she apparated back to her flat in London. Walking in through the doorway seemed to drain her of every ounce of energy she had previously possessed.

The day before the Hogwarts Express was set to leave; Hermione was sitting in a café near the neighborhood that she'd grown up in. Her hair was halfway pulled back, and she had let her curls run wild down her back. She felt odd, looking around and watching her childhood home in another time. It was the same, and yet entirely different from the world that she once knew. It was as though she were in a parallel world.

"Miss Dumbledore?" Hermione looked up to see a young woman with brown curly hair looking at her. She was wearing a silver key around her neck. It was then that Hermione knew that she was staring at a much younger version of her mother. Her father had given that necklace to her mother on their first Christmas together, and Helen never took it off. Once Hermione had become of age, she had actually made the necklace unbreakable.

"Yes. You must be Mrs. Granger." She said standing up and shaking her mum's hand. Hermione forced herself to remain calm and collected. Breaking down into tears and hugging the woman would only frighten her, on the account of the fact that she had no clue she was going to have a daughter, much less that a full grown version was sitting adjacent to her.

"Delightful to meet you dear and do please call me Helen. I apologize for having to conduct the interview at such short notice, but your resume seemed so intriguing that I didn't want you to go back to school without meeting you first." Her mother smiled at her and Hermione returned it although knew that it wasn't a true smile. It was just too much to really fake.

"We're in need of a temp, someone to answer the phones, book appointments and cancel them if need be. Mostly we just need someone to keep my husband and myself organized in day to day business." Helen said just before she took a sip of her tea. Hermione followed suit and gave her mother a slight smile.

"So where did you study?"

"Oh, I went to school in America. Ohio State University is one of the top universities for medicine." Hermione answered. She'd carefully researched medical schools abroad that had high levels of accepting foreign students.

"What made you decide to study abroad?" Helen asked.

"I wanted a chance to see a different culture, and my parents were against me backpacking for a year. My solution was to just attend university in another country." Hermione said with a slight smile. Lying to her mum felt weird, but she had to keep reminding herself that it was a necessary evil.

"How do they feel about you returning and joining our practice?" Helen asked. Hermione took a deep drink of tea before answering. She was trying to gather her thoughts, and be sincere.

"My parents always wanted me to go into the family business and follow in their footsteps. They have never pressured me, and never said anything bad about my decision to study medicine. However it's not their first choice for me. They want me to continue in accounting like they do. They are also very pleased to have me settling down in England so much that they might not care." Both ladies gave a slight chuckle at her last statement.

Hermione looked at her mother, and it was then that she knew. While she looked like her and her father, she wasn't the same little girl that they would raise. She'd changed too much, adapted to survive the war, and now she was adapting to survive this. Christmas dinner proved it, she got a long swimmingly with Aberforth, while scandalizing her favorite professor and the headmaster. Those two people were always the ones that she'd looked up to and supported. Yet now she was questioning. It was surreal.

"It's always lovely to have support behind you, especially when it's your family." Her mother commented with a smile. Hermione nodded with a slight smile.

"I couldn't ask for anything better. Your dental practice is a family one right?" She asked, slipping back into character. Hermione had felt herself starting to lose grip on the danger that she was in, should she break her identity at the moment.

"Yes, we just started it, my husband and I. We're very excited about it. For now it'll just be the two of us and yourself if everything works out. We hope to add another dentist at some point, if the practice grows enough to need one." Helen explained excitedly. Her eyes were alit with happiness as she spoke about her work. Hermione's parents had always adored their "baby."

"Did you by chance bring your educational documents with you?" Helen asked. Hermione gave her a sheepish grin.

"After I spoke to you on the phone, I went to retrieve that particular folder and realized that it was in my bag when I flew back from America. The plane managed to lose it. I was hoping that I could get the address to the practice so that I could mail them to you."

"Oh that's quite alright, in fact it might work even better." Helen said as she reached for a pen and scrap of paper. Hermione felt her heart soar as her mother handed her the piece of paper. It was the same address that she'd grown up in, which made it all the more easier.

"I'm so glad that we met," Hermione said honestly as she blinked back tears.

"Thank you so much for giving me your time today and I'll send you those documents as soon as possible."

"Wonderful." Helen said as she shook her hand. She called a taxi for Hermione and they shook hands once more before making plans to speak once the documents were sent. Hermione already was setting up plans in her head for when and how she would obtain the necessary ingredients for the ritual. Now that she knew where to find both her parents, it was only a matter of time.

It wasn't until after the taxi was out of sight when Helen Granger started heading home. As she crossed the street, her heel snapped, and she faltered for a moment. Upon righting herself, Helen glanced over her shoulder to see headlights barreling down upon her. Instantly everything went black.

* * *

_My Father's Father-Civil Wars _

_I wanted to thank Dany H. for the review. It was very helpful and I greatly appreciated it. I wanted to reply, but could not because it was written as an anonymous review._


	22. Lost

_January 13, 1976_

_True Love Ends in a Tragic Accident_

_The local community was shocked at the disastrous events several days ago after a car accident occurred in the downtown area. It involved a pair of college sweet hearts, which many are now referring to as the modern day Romeo and Juliet tragedy._

_Mr. and Mrs. Granger have been upstanding members of the community and were in the process of opening their own dental practice. They were expected to help the economic growth as well as develop good community standing. The young couple's plans were ruined shortly before it could begin. It is our regret to announce that on the second of January, Mrs. Helen Granger was crossing the street when a car ran a red light and struck her. She died instantly, due to serious injury. The driver of the vehicle was declared to be in critical condition and rushed to the nearest hospital. _

_The driver was declared healthy enough to leave the next day, and was identified as Mr. Robert Granger. On the fourth of January, he was found by police in his own home dead. The death has been ruled by a suicide…_

"I can't." Lily said as she ceased reading the muggle paper. James took it from her hands, and patted her on the back soothingly.

"It's okay Lily," James said quietly. Most of Gryffindor table was shooting the teenager curiously looks because they were so used to seeing the two students squabbling instead of comforting one another.

"It's just so tragic."

"What is?" Hermione asked as she sat down at the breakfast table and started pouring herself a glass of orange juice. She noticed the random looks from the other students, and raised an eyebrow at the scene in front of her.

"A couple from my neighborhood died a few days ago." Lily answered as James handed the paper to Hermione. The brunette took it scanning it at first, as she chose to take a drink. As she quickly glanced over the piece, the article's subject sunk into her mind, and she spit out the juice horrified.

"Where did you get this?" Hermione asked. James and Lily looked at one another worried, at the tone of her voice. It was weak, full of disbelief and horror.

"The owl dropped it off, it's from my hometown." Lily answered after a moment. She was looking at her Hermione with great concern, and wide eyes. She knew that there was a silent question, asking what the significance was behind her reaction. What she didn't know was how long it would remain unasked, and she told herself that was the reason she slowly stood up and walked out of the Great Hall.

"Hermione?" James called out. She didn't react, only just kept walking. If she stopped now she'd never get away from them, and they would start asking questions that she couldn't answer.

"She didn't touch her food," James said after a moment.

"She hardly sat down." Lily said. She went to look at the paper again, and was at a loss momentarily when she didn't see it.

"James, she took the newspaper. You don't think she knows them do you?" She asked under her breath. Potter shrugged.

"Honestly she probably just forgot something for class. You know how she gets about being on time. Bet you a galleon that she just ran back to the tower before class." James said confidently. Lily smiled at him and nodded, although normally Hermione told her when she forgot something. Her reaction was odd, and it worried her. She allowed James to distract her until breakfast was over and they had to head off to Potions. It wasn't until James discreetly handed her a galleon that she really started to worry.

"Ms. Dumbledore," Professor Carmichael called out for the third time. Lily looked at James who shrugged, and she was surprised that he wasn't bemoaning his loss of a bet. Hermione hadn't shown up for Defense, she was already a good ten minutes late. Ordinarily Lily would've given her the benefit of the doubt, however this was their third class of the day and she hadn't made an appearance in any of the previous ones.

"Professor, Hermione mentioned that she wasn't feeling well," Lily said after a moment. The teacher focused in on her and nodded after a moment. She wasn't particularly concerned about lying for her friend, considering her reputation was that she never lied to a professor.

"I believe she went to the Hospital Wing," The redhead added after a moment. The defense professor seemed to take this into account and believe it as he inquired no further into the matter. She ignored James' attempts to ask her questions during class, and the moment that Defense Against the Dark Arts was over, she was out the door.

Lily sprinted up to Gryffindor Tower and just barely spared a glance around the Common Room before heading up to their dorm room. She was calling Hermione's name as she threw open the door. Unfortunately, the room was empty, not that she was surprised. Lily looked around the room frantically, before going into the restroom. The entire dorm was empty. After doing another look around Lily walked back downstairs and looked in the Common Room again. She wasn't there either and none of the room's occupants had seen her. The only other place she could think to look on such short notice was the one place that she didn't want to go.

Her eyes were drawn up the stairs, towards the boys' dorms. Lily was the one girl in Gryffindor who could say without a shadow of a doubt that she'd never been up there. It was something that she prided herself on, but she also had a nagging feeling that she needed to find Hermione. She glanced around the room to see if anyone would notice her. To her relief no one was paying her any attention and before she knew that she'd made the decision she was already halfway up the stairs. She found the room easily enough and thankfully she didn't run into anyone. Pushing open the door Lily looked around the corridor before slipping inside the room.

"Hermione?" She called out lowly. The room was a mess, as though a hurricane had exploded inside of it. There was one bed that was made, and no doubt it was Remus.' She hesitantly walked further into the room, looking at each of the beds, to see if Hermione was sitting on one. After a futile moment she realized that her best bet was most likely finding Sirius'. After several moments of creeping, she discovered Sirius' bed was the farthest from the doors and windows.

"Hermione, are you in here?"

"Quite a surprise to see a Prefect breaking and entering."

Lily screamed in fright and whipped around with her hand over her chest. She managed to trip over one of the numerous pairs of shoes that were lying on the floor and landed on one of the many unmade beds Sirius was standing there in front of her with a grin on his face.

"Don't do that!" She hissed through her teeth.

"Evans what are you doing in here?" Sirius asked as he finished laughing.

"I'm looking for Hermione. Do you lot never clean?" She asked still reeling from fright. Sirius shrugged and nodded over to the made bed.

"James does, but he's finally realized it was a losing battle." He answered. Lily did a double take before realizing what Sirius had just told her.

"Wait, that's not Remus' bed?" She asked confused. Sirius started laughing and shook his head.

"Nope. You're actually sitting on his bed. James is the neat freak of the group." Sirius answered. Lily was surprised, she'd always assumed that Potter was ridiculously messy.

"Now what why are you looking for Hermione up here?" Sirius asked.

"She's missed all of her classes today, and I can't find her anywhere else." Lily answered as her frustration returned. Sirius immediately straightened up and stared at Lily with a look that made her slightly regret saying something.

"What happened? Hermione wouldn't ditch for just anything." Sirius asked. Lily gulped looking at him with guilt before explaining the situation. After she finished speaking Sirius looked pale and ashen, a lot like how Lily felt. To her surprise he didn't protest at all.

"We're going to need help."

About an hour and a half later, Remus, James, and Sirius were all sitting in an empty classroom near Ravenclaw Tower. They had decided to search the upper levels of the castle in hopes that she was lurking somewhere near their own tower. Unfortunately it had proved futile and so they had decided to take a break and brainstorm the obvious whereabouts. They had decided to duck into an unused classroom, and while Remus paced back and forth across the room, James and Sirius were tossing an apple between the two of them. Lily had told them to stay put before disappearing.

"Where would Hermione go?" Remus asked for the fifth time. The frustration was evident in his voice. Sirius and James immediately began throwing out random locations around the castle.

"Great Hall."

"Astronomy Tower."

"Divination classroom."

"Dungeons"

"Library."

"Black Lake." James threw the last option out, only to get the apple thrown at his head by Sirius. He managed to catch it, after it bounced off of his head. He launched it back towards his friend without any real retaliation.

"It'd be easier if we had the map. Then we could just go straight to where she's at. That is if, she's even still on the grounds, since that seems to be the only possibility that we haven't really considered. When's Peter getting back?" Sirius asked.

"Late tonight, early tomorrow. I doubt she left the grounds, although if she did she might be in Hogsmeade. Do you think she knows about the secret passageway leading into Honeydukes?" Remus muttered out loud to himself.

"Still can't believe Pettigrew's parents insisted on a delaying his return to school on account of a family vacation." James muttered under his breath, although Sirius ignored him.

"So I take it he has the—" Remus began asking.

"Yep." Sirius growled, cutting off his question as he chucked the apple at James' head again.

"Lovely." The door was thrown open capturing their attention and Severus Snape was violently thrown through the doorway. None of the Marauders sitting in the room reacted beyond an eyebrow raise or a smirk. Severus caught himself before he could stumble any further once he was in the room and the door shut behind him.

"Thank you Lily," Sirius said turning to glance at her. She nodded from in front of the door.

"Getting Evans to do your dirty work then Black?" Severus hissed. Sirius didn't rise to the bait and instead acted as though he didn't hear him.

"Hermione is missing. She's skipped all of her classes today and hasn't been seen since breakfast. I want to know whether she could have been attacked by one of your housemates." He said getting straight to the point. Severus was taken aback and didn't bother to hide his worry.

"Doubtful. She can hold her own against them." Severus answered. James made a noise of disagreement which earned him a glare from the Slytherin.

"When you lot haven't bullied her to pieces over issues that are none of your business, Hermione is unshakable. You've seen how quickly she reacts." Severus defended. Sirius made a noise of protest at his accusation, but didn't say anything.

"Has there been any talk down there?" Lily asked from behind him. Severus didn't bother to turn around. He was already shaking his head.

"Is there a reason you haven't gone to the Headmaster?" He asked. Silence ensued between the four Gryffindors as they all exchanged weary glances.

"You don't want the school to know." He deduced from their lack of response.

"It's not any of their business. She doesn't need to deal with the gossip mill if she doesn't have to and you know as well as we do that if we go to a teacher, the rest of the school will know before breakfast tomorrow." Remus explained. He was right and they all knew it. Hogwarts' gossip mill was notorious, and nine out of ten times its information wasn't far from the truth. Unfortunately it limited their options in actually finding their friend and they all had a feeling that she wasn't exactly safe at the moment.


	23. Estrella

_Enjoy the double update. I figured you guys deserved it since I was absent. Decided to work on my own stuff for a little bit.  
Let me know what you think! -Aalis_

_It made me feel so empty__  
__Collapsing on some dirty bathroom floor. _

* * *

_It was cold. _

Those three words had been floating around her head for the past several minutes…or hours. She wasn't sure which. Originally she didn't even realize that they were thoughts, and even longer to notice that they belonged to her. It had taken her nearly every ounce of strength that she had to string those three little words together in her mind. There were other snippets floating around in the fog, but her mind was struggling to make a coherent thought. Mostly feelings would drift in and out of the forefront of her mind. Her head was foggy. Normally she could process hundreds of thoughts and ideas at once, yet now it was all she could do to keep her eyes open.

Damp.

That was one of the words that kept popping up in her mind. She wasn't sure why. People weren't damp. They didn't feel damp. Did they? Was it in reference to something else?

_It was cold._ There it was again, that statement floating across the forefront of her mind. Why did it keep popping up. If she had more energy, she probably would've tried to think up questions to figure out what was going on with her head. There was too much fog though, and it was too heavy to push through. Keeping her eyes open required an unsustainable amount of energy. She just couldn't do it, no more than she could ignore those three little words. She didn't really know what it meant.

Hermione desperately wanted to ignore the impulse she felt. Why did the three words matter? Everything was too foggy to bother caring. The darkness could be bothered. The darkness.

_It was dark._

Her mind clutched feebly at the observation. Why was it dark? The question slipped away out of her reach, and she imagined flinging an arm out to stop it from disappearing. The effort caused the fog to press down heavily.

Damp.

That word crept back through the fog. Hermione tried to crawl away from it, but it just kept following her. She didn't understand what it wanted.

"What was damp?!" She wanted to bellow at it, but not a sound was uttered. The fog took it back, but not soon enough for her liking, and as it was taken from her view the feeling was strengthened. There was nothing that she could do. She couldn't even remember what came before that word, and the further it got the harder it was to recall what she was so afraid of to begin with. The fog was overwhelming. There was no escaping it.

_It was cold. _

Hermione's eyes snapped opened.

_It was Dark._

Those were her thoughts. Why was she thinking about those things? What did they have to do with the Damp feeling? Her head ached. What was the point? How was she thinking things? The fog made everything really heavy. There was something waxy next to her skin. She couldn't figure out what it was though. She opened her eyes and saw that it was dark. That thought suddenly made sense. Wherever she was at, there were no lights. That waxy texture was still next to her skin. It finally started bothering her so much that she reached for it, only to find out that she couldn't move her hand. Hermione suppressed her panic and tried again throwing more force into the movement. Her arm slammed roughly into her face and she bit back a moan.

It was asleep. She'd been laying on it. The waxy feeling was still there although she still hadn't figured out what it was yet. It was driving her nuts, but she couldn't move. Her limbs were so heavy, at least the ones that she could actually feel. Hermione recognized now that wherever she was at was absolutely freezing.

"_Get up." _It wasn't a request nor was it spoken out loud. The thought took her quite a bit of effort to say in her head. It was soft, but firm. Despite the thought there was no movement. Hermione tried again, and when it proved futile she did so again.

"_Just stand up_." The tenth time she tried, her thoughts increased in volume and intensity. Her body still didn't do anything. She lied there motionless and panicky. Why wasn't her body responding? She clearly should have been on her feet by now. Was she paralyzed? The thought flew across her scattered mind, only to ignite a sheer wave of panic. How would that have happened? She would've had to been injured before waking up. Now that she thought about it, how did she get here? Hermione started wracking her brain for any type of memory to tell her how she wound up in a dark place with no mobility. It was blank. The realization just sent her into a further panic.

_"Hermione you have to stand up now!" _She screamed across her mind and to utter horror there was still no response to her commands. She wanted to cry out of frustration and panic. Yet she soon realized that it wasn't an option available. She was literally trapped in her own body.

_"JUST FUCKING STAND UP!"_ By then she knew it was futile. She knew that it wasn't going to work. She was fucking screwed. She still wanted to know what that waxy texture was too.

Hermione woke up to a dog sniffing her hair. She didn't know how much time had passed, and she wanted to shrink backwards. Even if she had the ability to move, she wouldn't have had the energy. Hermione didn't even have the energy to be truly scared. It didn't even register in her mind that the dog looked familiar, nor did she really think anything of it when the animal transformed into Sirius.

"Remus I found her!" The volume of his voice made the stress and panic all the more evident. It also made her want to cringe. Footsteps drew closer, growing louder as they drew near, and only adding to Hermione's desire to scuttle backwards.

"Merlin she's shaking." Sirius said as he put a hand on her forehead and shoulder.

"She's wearing a tee-shirt and a skirt while lying on a stone floor in the dungeon. I'm not surprised." Remus said as he crouched down next to him. Hermione vaguely saw him pull his school sweater over his head. She assumed he motioned for Sirius to help her sit up because the next thing she knew they were pulling the sweater gently over her head.

"That should help while we carry her upstairs. Is she responsive at all?" Remus asked.

"Her eyes are open and she's breathing." Sirius said. Hermione noticed that is tone sounded upset. She wondered what was bothering him and who they were talking about. The waxy texture was in her fist. She noticed that after a moment.

"Well let's go. You can carry her right?" The next thing she knew Hermione was being hoisted into the air and her arms wrapped around Sirius' shoulders, not that she could actually hold on or anything. It was weird.

"Did you use that weird connection thingy again?" Remus asked in a low whisper, although it didn't escape Hermione's ears.

"No. Followed her sent as Padfoot." Sirius answered. It was weird to hear his voice without a hint of laughter or amusement in it for once. Hermione didn't like it.

"Did she see you?"

"I think so, but I don't know if she'll actually remember since she's not responding." Sirius said. Hermione felt herself smile on the inside. As if she'd ever forget Snuffles. There were far too many adventures that included him from her childhood. He was her first pen pal, even if she did have to share him with Ron and Harry. She felt the fog slide back over her, blocking out her view of Sirius and Remus, although she was much calmer this time since she could still hear them speak.

* * *

It was a newspaper. She finally identified what the waxy texture was when she woke up. It was a newspaper that was clenched in her fist, much like the time when she had been petrified. Although this time it was laying on the floor beside her bed. Whoever put her in the room probably dropped it on their way out. She wanted to rip it to shreds, but she just kept staring at it. The headline burned into her mind, but she couldn't process it. It couldn't be true. It wasn't true. It was load of folly. This had to be one of the twins' bad jokes; one of their joke papers that targeted the victim's worst fears. It couldn't be real.

She was so absorbed in her denial that she failed to notice that her hands were shaking as they clutched the paper. She'd woken up three days ago with it in her hand, and hadn't been able to set it down since then. She hadn't really moved since she woke up either. Hermione had spent the majority of the time in the fetal position, buried beneath dozens of blankets. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew that the surrounding room was empty, and the thought made her grateful, even though she wouldn't have realized that anyone was there.

She kept drifting in and out of consciousness, no longer recognizing reality from a dream. An escape was needed and so it was given.

"Sprite?" If her mind wasn't so cloudy, she would've responded to the name. The tone was familiar and the owner always refused to leave her alone. In the back of her mind, she knew that if she didn't respond he would think something was wrong.

He crept closer, walking silently out of habit. Even when his foot stepped on a creaky floorboard she didn't react. Her normally unruly hair had morphed a massive knot, half tucked in a braid and half wrapped around it. When he reached the side of the bed that she was facing,, he knelt in front of her.

"Sprite? Hermione?" He murmured, lightly touching her wrists. She didn't even look at him; her gaze was locked on the paper in front of her. He slowly began to ease it out of her grasp and even then she never acknowledged that he was there.

A quick glance to the page told him that a muggle family had died in a car accident, which Lily and James had mentioned previously. He scanned the rest of the newspaper, trying to figure out what could have upset her. Sirius didn't see anything that was really tragic other than the main article, and that seemed a bit skeptical at best. He set it down after a moment, this time on the bed side table before turning his attention back to her.

"You haven't moved for three days, we need you to eat something." There was no response. She still wasn't even looking at him.

"Hermione we need you to let us help you." Sirius said, disheartened when she laughed bitterly.

"Help me?" She asked, looking at his eyes. Her gaze was frigid and it felt much more like she was staring straight through him.

"How exactly do you expect to help me, when you can't even help yourself? You think that everything is a game, that there isn't any danger, no risk. You treat everything like its something you can walk over! So how exactly do you think that's going to help me?" Her voice was hollow, and it made a shiver go down Sirius's spine, the words were somehow made more bitter and harsh because of it, despite the lack of emotion behind it. He swallowed and looked right back at her before answering.

"I'm not going to let you shut down. I need you, Remus needs you. Whether or not you can see how loved you are by the people around you, they are there. We owe you much more because we are your friends than to just let you miss classes just to sit and stare by yourself."

"What gives you the right to boss me around? How can you even—" She was looking at the bed.

"You really want to say something that you might regret?" Sirius asked her. He was glad to see that she actually listened when he saw her mouth slam shut as she stared at the floor.

The next time the fog lifted in Hermione's brain was when she was sitting in the bathroom. She was so exhausted that she didn't care how she got there or that she was hallucinating. Sirius was sitting there, and for a moment she wanted to just fling her arms around him. She missed Snuffles. The real Sirius. The one who would give her, Ron, and Harry advice only to have Mrs. Weasley freak out.

"I don't know how to fix this," Hermione found her voice saying. She needed to him to tell her what to do.

"I mean I know how to fix a lot of things, but this?" She was close to having a huge panic attack. How was she supposed to fix a broken world? Especially one that she had a personal stake in?

"Sprite, you're not responsible for everything," Sirius reminded her. She was surprised at how strong the hallucination was when he started washing her hair. Eventually she was out of the water and dressed.

"I'm done." Hermione was standing in clean clothes by the mirror. Her hair was in a French braid down her back.

"You can do wandless magic?" She asked.

"Yes," he answered as he instantly dried out his clothes.

"One of the requirements of growing up as the future 'Lord Black.'" His voice was harsh, and Hermione knew that he hated all memories associated with his past. It was then that she realized that this wasn't a hallucination. This was Sirius, in the past. He hadn't moved on and let go of the anger and hurt his family had inflicted. She felt torn, but her mind was so heavy that she didn't really think about it.

"Are you ready to head down for some food?" She hesitated in answering before nodding her head. She walked out of the room back towards her bed, to grab a muggle zip-up. It was a blue one that she wore nearly every day for the past few weeks. Pulling it on, she walked towards the door, and suddenly faltered.

Sirius stepped up to her and held out his hand. Hesitantly Hermione reached out and grasped it.

* * *

_Estrella by Brave Saint Saturn_


	24. Introductions

_He said he's gonna make you pay_  
_For what we done- he's got a GUN! _  
_So run, Joey run, Joey run!"_

* * *

"What are you doing here Sirius? You're supposed to be at school." Sirius' cousin Andromeda lectured him, although her voice lacked any real anger. She was looking at him with an amused expression. He sent her a smirk in return.

"Can't I visit my cousin once in a while?" He asked sweetly. His cousin rolled her eyes in return.

"I'm amazed at how lax Dumbledore is with you Gryffindors. You could commit murder and get away with it as long as you batted those big pretty eyes of yours. Now what are you doing here?"

"I need to talk to you about the necklace." He said. Andy immediately tensed up before nodding.

"I figured that wouldn't be our last chat about that topic. To be honest I'm surprised your mother hasn't discovered it yet."

"How would she know?" Sirius asked confused.

"The second that marriages are created using magical objects such as that necklace, it's recorded in the Marital Records Department of the Ministry. My guess is that she'll know within minutes. Depending on the young lady she'll probably try to murder you."

"No doubt." Sirius agreed.

"How does it work? You said that I needed to get to know my betrothed last time we spoke. How do I break the engagement?"

"You don't." Andromeda's words were heavy on Sirius as he examined them.

There was significance behind her statement that really forced the realization into his brain. He was stuck. Somehow without his knowledge or agreement, Sirius Black had become engaged to Hermione Dumbledore. It didn't make any sense and if he were honest, he was on the precipice of panicking. Beneath all of his practical jokes, day-dreaming personality and light-heartened banter, he was dependent on logic as were most pure-blooded children. There was always an explanation. He couldn't see it though.

"How did this happen?"

He looked up at her question, confused for a moment. He didn't even know how to begin to explain the whole situation. He didn't even realize the necklace was gone until he saw it around Hermione's neck. Sirius knew that Andromeda would take this secret to the grave. She was disowned, and would gain nothing from telling anyone. Not to mention she'd rather one up their family for all that they put her through growing up.

"I don't know." He said after a moment. Andromeda's eyes flashed, a tell that she had when she was worried.

"There's a new student this year at school. She's a Gryffindor, in my year, and is brilliant. She can run circles around most people magically and mentally. When she showed up it was around her neck, she'd been living in another part of the country apparently." Sirius explained rubbing a hand over his eyes.

" Have you spoken to her about it?"

"No. What am I supposed to say? Hey, you managed to somehow find and put on an ancient necklace and we're getting married now? I'm sure that'll go over real well. Not like she would be exceedingly pleased about that announcement. Isn't there just away for me to break this before anything really happens?" Sirius asked.

"No." Andromeda answered.

"Well why the bloody hell not?" Sirius erupted. His cousin didn't lose any of her composure though.

"Your name already has a line adjacent to it on the family tapestry in your home." Andromeda told him. Sirius' mouth fell open at the statement. Under normal circumstances he wouldn't have really thought that the statement really had any significance. However the tapestry updated itself as the family grew and multiplied. The only time lines were added were during betrothals.

"I think I'm going to be sick," he muttered. His cousin wordlessly summoned a bottle of firewhiskey and poured him a shot before handing the glass to him. Sirius gulped it down.

"How do you even know?" He asked after a moment. If Andromeda had been in his childhood home recently she would've no doubt been in trouble. She had been banished from all family homes since her disownment.

"Narcissa saw it when she was over for tea with your mother during Christmas Break. She told me about it and she also threw a concealment charm on it." Andromeda answered.

"Why would she do that?" Sirius asked.

"Whether you want to believe it or not, she does care about you and Narcissa knows that whatever going on it could prove detrimental if they were to find out beforehand. She assumes you are doing what I did." Andromeda explained.

"That doesn't make any sense. Narcissa—"

"Loves you. You have just let the fact that she is a Slytherin cloud the fact that you used to be inseparable. Not everyone is as lucky to be strong enough to stand up to the family as we are. She learned early on that the only way she was going to get away from our parents was to appear to do what they want , and after I made my choice to leave they were much more difficult on her. You don't have the monopoly on having a bad childhood, and just because we don't show that we're in pain doesn't mean we're not." Andromeda said harshly.

Sirius blinked at the unexpected lecture.

"She's betrothed to Malfoy though."

"DO you honestly think that she had a choice in that matter?" Andromeda asked harshly. Sirius knew better and he lowered his eyes in admittance. Andromeda softened immedietly.

"I know that it's hard to forgive them. Believe me I get it, but you also know what growing up with them was like. She is trying to survive the best she can. They keep her under lock and key, because they're terrified that she'll end up too much like me. That's why she puts on a front. She acts like Bellatrix because that's the only way that she'll retain any amount of freedom." Andromeda explained.

"How do you know it's an act?"

"Why else would I see her for tea every week?"

"What? How in the bloody hell have you not been caught?!" Sirius exclaimed.

"You forget that one of her many talents is the Polyjuice Potion. Mum and Dad would never protest if her fiancé wanted to take her out for tea." Sirius erupted into laughter at Andromeda's admittance of her antics with her sister. He always knew that she was brilliant, but he never dreamed that Narcissa would be so bold as to allow her sister to impersonate Lucius Malfoy. They passed the rest of the afternoon discussing old memories, until Sirius realized that he needed to get back to school before any of the teachers figured out that he wasn't there. His magic was strong, but he knew that he had to be careful not to give the fact away that he could slip away unnoticed.

"Sirius, I'm glad that you came to see me. Remember any time you need to talk, you're always welcome. Just…don't do anything stupid alright?" Andromeda said just before he left.

"It's not like I'm going to take the girl to a Ministry Official and ask to get married." Sirius said dryly.

Andromeda smiled grimly at him.

"What?" he asked warily.

"As if you would actually need to do so. Sirius, you're already as good as married. The necklace is trying to get you to consummate it. That's the final step. So whatever you do, don't sleep with the girl, whomever she is and don't tell anyone about this either."

He nodded as he walked out the door, with more questions on his mind.

"There you are Pads!" James was running towards him in the snow. Sirius had literally just stepped out of one of the alleyways in Hogsmeade. Even though it was around six in the evening, the village was full of students, running about in different directions. Most were huddled in groups, although there were a few that were straggling down the road by themselves.

"Where've you been?"

"Oh, I went exploring this morning." Sirius explained. James' eyes lit up in recognition at the code that his friend uttered. They'd developed a way to talk about their misdeeds and adventures in public, after realizing early on that they all had a habit of getting into trouble.

"Find anything interesting?"

"Yes. I was hoping to find a place to go stargazing in case I wanted to woo a girl, if you know what I mean." Sirius said laughing.

"There are a few spots that would be interesting, although I won't know if they're any good until I try them." He added. James nodded, and while he didn't know exactly what was discussed, he did now know that Sirius had snuck out of the village to go see his cousin Andromeda. Any time astronomy was mentioned, it was generally a reference to Sirius' family, and Andy had often "chastised" them for their "misdeeds." At least that's what other people assumed. Generally she was covering for them, and found their antics hilarious.

"Where is everyone?" He asked after a moment. James gave an impish grin before beginning to explain.

"Well the original plan was to hole up in the Three Broomsticks, but that turned out to be pointless considering everyone else in the school decided to do that. Lily and Remus were more concerned with finding Hermione and so they decided to just go on a search for her. Wormtail is following some group of girls around because one of them said he was cute. A bit pathetic if you ask me."

"Where's Hermione?" Sirius had literally blocked out everything once he'd heard that Hermione was missing again.

"She slipped off early after breakfast this morning, even with Lily and Remus keeping an eye on her. I was rather impressed on the distraction that she used. She blew up every platter of food on the Gryffindor Table. Needless to say it was understandable when Lily and Remus got sidetracked for a minute."

"James."

"Oh right. She's fine, I found her earlier. She's at Hogshead."

"What?" Sirius asked. He immedietly started moving in that direction, ignoring whatever James was trying to say behind him. Hogshead didn't exactly have the most spectacular reputation. Basically anytime someone wanted to not be noticed, or to make a shady deal, they went there. It was dingy and most of the time students stayed away.

"She's fine." James tried again.

"You said she's at Hogshead. Is that really on your list of "safe places" for a girl by herself?" Sirius growled at his friend. He didn't understand why he was so worried; after all he'd seen Hermione in action. She could take care of herself for the most part. Although there were numerous examples of what happened when she couldn't take care of herself. He knew in the back of his mind that his sudden overprotectiveness was from the necklace, but at the same time he didn't care.

"Hermione's not exactly by herself." James muttered.

"What; are Lily and Remus there?" Sirius asked, although his speed didn't slow down by any means.

"Sort of," James added.

"You're giving a lot of half answers Prongs." His voice had returned to a growl. His friend didn't answer, and Sirius assumed that he'd decided to just let him find out on his own. The bar came into view rather quickly and when they walked inside, Sirius was astonished to see how crowded it was. It was full of students, although there was a majority of guys. He noticed that there seemed to be a focal point by the right side of the bar, further away from the entrance, although it seemed normal to him. Sirius scanned until he found Remus and Lily sitting towards the middle of the room and walked over to them, with James on his heels.

"Where is she?" He asked worried. Remus didn't say anything, he just nodded towards the bar. Sirius turned, suddenly realizing why there were so many people surrounding the bar. Hermione was sitting by herself, towards the end.

"What is going on?"

"Apparently Hermione forgot to mention that she'd been asked by multiple people to accompany them to Hogsmeade this weekend." Lily answered with a slight smirk.

"This morning's antics seem to have made her rather desirable by most of the guys in the school. So now she not only gets to deal with the ones who originally asked, but every other bloke in the school." Remus added.

"You've got to be joking," Sirius said after a moment.

"Nope, sorry Pads. Oh look there goes another one. Every so often one of them tries to buy her a drink. My favorite was when she said yes, and then the bartender refused to sell it to him." James said grinning. Sirius pivoted before any of his friends could blink. He walked up to Hermione and some Hufflepuff who was stuttering his way through talking to her.

"I was wondering if you'd be willing to go grab a bite to eat at some point."

Hermione didn't get a chance to answer the guy. Sirius pushed past him and slid a hand to her neck, before connecting his lips to hers. He kept it chaste, but not enough to make any bloke in the room think that they might have some kind of claim to the girl. His girl. The one thing that he didn't count on was the necklace activating. He had to force himself to separate from Hermione and he did so with a cocky grin.

"Hey beautiful. Sorry I'm late. Place is a bit crowded."

The Hufflepuff had taken the opportunity to promptly disappear, and Sirius was grateful that the entire school would know that Hermione was off the market by dinner tonight. She was currently staring at him wide-eyed, and for once was speechless.

"Can I get two firewhiskeys?" He asked the bartender, who was glaring at him as though he wanted to Avada him on the spot as he shook his head in a no for Sirius' request. He turned to look back at Hermione and commented on it.

"Worth a shot. So what's with that guy?"

"What the hell was that?" Hermione finally asked.

"What was what?"

"That kiss! What the bloody hell were you thinking?" She hissed at him.

"I was getting rid of the losers who insisted on asking you out. Relax it isn't like I kissed you in front of your dad or anything. Why won't the bartender serve us alcohol?" Sirius said nonchalantly.

"I was doing just fine on my own with those so called losers," she said stubbornly.

"Really, because this place is filled with them and they're all here for you." Sirius shot back. He looked at her empty firewhiskey bottle and raised an eyebrow.

"How did you manage to get this?" He asked. Hermione didn't answer him. Instead she caught the bartender's attention and raised two fingers. Sirius looked at her slightly interested although he knew that it wouldn't work.

To his shock two bottles were set in front of them a minute later. The bartender was staring at him angrily still. Hermione didn't hesitate to take a large gulp of hers.

"Sirius, I would like you to meet my dad. Aberforth Dumbledore."

* * *

_Run Joey Run- David Geddes_


	25. Drink Me

"What?" Sirius' response was incredibly ineloquent for him. He looked at the bartender noting, the blue eyes that were a trademark of a Dumbledore. He looked back at Hermione, noticing for the first time that her eyes were hazel, rather than the traditional blue. He wasn't able to dwell on that fact, because he also realized that she was standing very rigid.

"This is my dad, Aberforth Dumbledore." Hermione repeated, before taking another drink. She seemed to be slightly agitated, and he noticed that the drinks she was taking were rather large gulps.

"Oh," Sirius said suddenly slightly horrified. He nearly repeated himself once it really hit him that he had in fact kissed Hermione in front of her dad. Part of him was amused that he did exactly what he told her he hadn't done, yet he knew that she was probably upset. He turned to Aberforth, and introduced himself.

"Do all brats your age act with that level of inappropriateness?" Aberforth asked gruffly. Sirius shook his head immediately upon hearing the bite in the older man's tone. The pureblood in him was already calculating on how to fix the situation and repair the discretion. It was a habit that came in handy more often than not, and it allowed him to get out of trouble in school amongst the majority of teachers. McGonagall wasn't one of them.

"No sir, just me. It's a side-effect of getting disowned. The only way to soothe my wounded soul is to date your daughter." The words were out of his mouth before he could rethink them. Hermione looked absolutely horrified, which Sirius inwardly felt, although he refused to show his horror. When in doubt, fake it. To his surprise, but gratefulness, Aberforth threw his head back and started laughing.

"Interesting choice kid," He said to his daughter.

"We're not dating." Hermione protested, only to be ignored by both her father and Sirius.

"Lily, James, and Remus are sitting at a table towards the back, if you want to join them. They've been worried about you." Sirius said to Hermione. She looked back at him with a raised eyebrow, and Sirius hoped that she'd take the hint. He wanted an opportunity to do damage control and didn't need her help to do so. When she didn't respond to him Aberforth raised a bushy eyebrow at his daughter. Sirius couldn't help but notice the similarities between the two.

"Why have they been worried?" The bartender asked gruffly.

"How should I know?" Hermione answered defensively.

"Black?"

"Oh, well Hermione hear hasn't really been taking care of herself lately. Mostly it's been stress related, but we've been worried that she's pushing herself to hard." Sirius answered cheerfully. She glared at him angrily. Without saying a word, Hermione grabbed her drink and stalked away towards their friends. Sirius wasn't exactly expecting her compliance to be won that easily, he rather expected an argument to ensue.

Sirius watched her walk away, only turning back to Aberforth when he heard a loud clink on the bar. There were several bottles of firewhiskey sitting in front of him. He looked up at the bartender slightly confused by the meaning of the action.

"I reward honesty, as well as loyalty." Aberforth said brusquely. Sirius gave a short nod, which conveyed his thankfulness.

"You're the only guy in here that she even glanced at twice. It could be the necklace or it could be that she likes you. Don't think I don't know what that means. Either way if you hurt her, I'll gut you." Aberforth walked away, towards other customers, who were trying to order. Sirius stood there stunned for several moments, trying to process what he was just told. James clapped him on his back, and he looked over slightly before handing him a few of the firewhiskeys to help carry.

"How the bloody hell did you manage to get this?" James asked excitedly.

"Hermione's dad is the bartender. He apparently likes me." Sirius asked still slightly dazed at the fact that he was about ninety-percent sure that Hermione's dad had given him permission to not only date, but marry the girl. He knew in the back of his mind that people would recognize the necklace at some point. Sure not everyone would, but those older purebloods would on sight. Lily grinned at Sirius when he and James set the alcohol down in front of her. Remus frowned disapprovingly while she took a large drink. He still didn't approve of underage drinking, and Sirius would never forget the day they had all found out that Lily not only liked to drink, but could drink them under the table. They never expected it of her. Unfortunately James and Sirius had learned the hard way that she wasn't just having them on.

"I knew there was a reason to keep her around," Lily said grinning.

"Wait." Remus said confused, suddenly turning to Hermione.

"I thought the headmaster was your dad," the lycan said.

"No, he's my uncle."

"Then why did you say he was your dad?" James asked curiously. Hermione raised an eyebrow at him before taking another gulp of firewhiskey.

"I didn't. If you'll recall, I didn't even give anyone my last name. No one bothered to ask whether I was related to him. Everyone just assumed." She explained. Lily started laughing at Remus and James before telling them to lighten up. Remus refused any of the firewhiskey, muttering to James that his furry little problem wouldn't react well to it. Hermione forced herself to pretend that she heard nothing, and instead chose to look at Lily who was giving her an odd grin.

"So how long have you and Sirius been dating?" The red-head asked laughing. Sirius watched carefully as Hermione's face went blank for a moment before she shrugged.

"We're not." She said simply. Sirius wasn't prepared for the burn of jealousy that settled in his stomach the moment the words left her lips. Lily didn't seem to believe her friend's statement.

"Really, so you kiss every guy like that then?" Lily asked with a undertone of a challenge. Sirius didn't like the direction that this conversation was heading towards suddenly. He watched warily, half expecting Hermione to react negatively. What he didn't expect was for her to set her bottle of Firewhiskey down on the table loudly, and march over to Remus. She was standing in front of him before Sirius had really realized that she'd moved. Remus had been talking to James, not paying attention to the conversation between the girls, and Sirius knew that he was even less prepared for Hermione's sudden behavior.

Sirius suddenly found himself unable to move as a violent rage burned from his stomach to his upper chest and back. There was an outline of electricity which no doubt was fueled by his anger, and his upbringing told him that his magic was reacting very loudly. Logically the fact that Hermione had just shoved her tongue down his best mate's throat wasn't something that should make him react in this way.

After all, she was right and they weren't dating. It was all he could do to focus on not letting his magic explode around him, and he was succeeding. While Lily stared open mouthed at Hermione, Sirius was trying to contain his rage. Seeing Remus wrap his arms around the brunette's waist, before settling on her hips spurred Sirius' anger. He heard several glasses shatter, and only could guess in the back of his mind that his movement had sent a wave of magic spinning away from him. He yanked Hermione away from Remus, before dragging her from the bar.

Sirius knew that she was protesting, as he moved, but he blocked her voice out, still trying to shake the haze from his mind. It was futile. The next thing he knew, they were in an alley, and her back was against the wall, her legs wrapped around his waist. They were kissing with such a ferocity, never coming up for air until they had long ran out of breath. All he could hear through the haze in his mind, was Hermione moaning from time to time. It diffused his anger little by little, until he was no longer driven by anger, but just lust. He finally managed to break from their frantic movements, before they went to far, and rested his forehead on hers.

"Would you like to explain why the bloody hell you kissed Remus?" The words were spewed venomously, which had not been his intentions at all.

"Would you like to explain why you think it's any of your business?" She answered back. He wasn't surprised that her tone matched his in sharpness, and her eyes were narrowed into slits.

"You are—"

"—Single and free to do whatever the hell I want." Hermione cut him off. Sirius felt his blood boiling, and before he knew it, they were back in a frenzy of heavy kissing. He had to focus on calming down, and he finally did so seconds before Hermione bit him painfully, although he hadn't acted quickly enough.

"Hermione!" He yelped as he roughly dropped her. She landed delicately on her feet and glared up at him. He quirked an eyebrow up and wondered at how she managed to move so sprightly all the time.

"You don't own me Sirius. We're not in a relationship, and I'm not going to take orders from you just because you think you have a right to do so." Her hands were on her hips and Sirius found her enticing with her frazzled hair, and this electricity that just surrounded her. He took two steps towards, her, so that her back was against the wall, and their chests were touching again. Hermione was looking up at him with her large round eyes.

"You're mine." He whispered heavily into her ears.

* * *

_Sorry it's so short guys. I've been busy with school and working on my own stuff. Please let me know what you think about it! I need feedback so I can see if I need to change things, or keep it at this pace._

_Aalis_


	26. Radioactive

_I apologize for the gap in updates. I was swept away in an intense portion of the semester. I also have been working on my own stuff. Thanks for reminding me that you guys are still interested! Special thanks goes out for those who requested updates! I hope you enjoy. As always give me your thoughts: good & bad. _

_Aalis_

* * *

I'm waking up to ash and dust  
I wipe my brow and I sweat my rust  
I'm breathing in the chemicals

"You're not trying hard enough." Aberforth's voice was hard and unforgiving. Hermione pushed herself back up off of the floor and clambered to her feet. Her wand was at the ready and Aberforth resumed the fighting stance that he had previously held, before she'd been knocked onto her ass.

"Maybe I'm trying to take it easy on an old man like you." She grumbled. Aberforth chuckled and rolled his eyes at her.

"Girl if you had the talent to push me out of your mind, you would've done it already."

Hermione couldn't help but wonder if this was how Harry felt trying to study under Snape. Although she supposed in some ways, she had it easier than her best friend. At least Aberforth liked her. They had been working on her mental barriers for the past six hours. Her adoptive father didn't believe in taking breaks, considering anyone trying to break into someone's mind wouldn't be so thoughtful. She totally understood why he was adamant that they didn't quit, but at this point she was beginning to fall to pieces. The more exhausted she grew, the harder he pushed her. Following their first session she nearly collapsed, from the lack of energy. Now she was grateful for the technique that Aberforth was using. It allowed her to go farther, and longer with each session. He was helping her to build tolerance up at a faster rate.

"Legilimens." It was whispered so quietly that Hermione nearly missed it altogether. She didn't have the time to defend against it before her mind was slammed with a brutal force. It was as though a wind was rifling through her mind, blowing past memory after memory until stopping at one. It was the first day of term, when she had been called to by her Threstal. She didn't fight it. In fact she watched it again, and she could see the Threstal, however that wasn't what caught her attention. Rather it was the look on everyone's face. Three of the four boys were watching her with terrified and confused expressions. It was Sirius' expression that drew her attention. He was observing her with the utmost rapture, as though he was intrigued and captivated all at once. She didn't need to see the memory to know that they had regarded her as unnatural and freakish that day. No one their age could see Threstals, and if they did they certainly didn't let anyone know.

The memory she was standing in jumped again to the day before when she kissed Remus. Hermione pointedly ignored the main picture, rather, she focused on Sirius' face, at least as much as she could see it for the brief moment, before she closed her eyes and kissed Remus. There was a mixed emotion that she couldn't place. Partially between jealousy and admiration; if she had to guess, based on the behavior of Sirius in her time, he didn't think she'd actually do it. She wanted to claim that she didn't know what "made" her kiss Remus, but the truth was that she did.

Sirius' behavior reminded her too much of Ron's inane jealousy, and from her experience with that particular relationship, the only solution was to provoke him further. It was a very childish resolution which only worked with Ron, because he didn't have the stones, to actually do something about it. What Hermione wasn't counting on was the fact that Sirius would act. She knew if she kissed one of his best mates, it would piss him off, but she assumed that he'd do nothing. Her assumption was based on her previous experience with jealous boys and which unfortunately was only Ron Weasley. Yet now everyone in Hogwarts believed that they were dating, and there were even rumors of their betrothal. Hermione still didn't understand where those had cropped up from. The scene started morphing, but it fast forwarded to the moment that he had informed her that she belonged to him. Even in the memory she felt herself warm at the words, oddly starting near her collarbone. One of her hands flew to her collarbone, before pulling her out of the memory altogether.

She was staring at her adoptive father, who was breathing heavily. It took her several moments to realize that she wasn't exhausted, at all. Hermione looked at Aberforth confused, but before she could voice her questions, Aberforth began speaking to her.

"You, girl, are quite the conundrum."

Hermione didn't quite understand what he meant by the statement. She found herself attempting to respond several different times, and she could easily admit that this was one of the rare times that she was actually speechless.

"I'm confused," the words finally had tumbled for her mouth as she cocked her head to the side and looked at him.

"For a girl who has zero experience with this particular form of magic, you have quite the grasp on it." He said as he regained his breath.

"I wasn't known as the Brightest Witch My Age, for nothing," Hermione answered. Aberforth cracked a grin. Hermione noticed his wand twitch and she threw up a protective shield with a silent _Protego._

"Well done."

"Are you going to explain to me why I'm such a conundrum?" Hermione asked him.

"So you didn't realize what you were doing." Aberforth said as he sat down.

"You girl, were controlling those memories. It demands an enormous amount of strength to drag someone else through the memories that you want when they are forcing their way into your mind. You have to prevent them from looking freely, and summon the memories which you want them to see." He explained.

"It's different from sharing memories, because you have to contain the violence that the other person is willing to use against you." Aberforth added.

"What does this mean?" Hermione asked.

"It means you're pretty fucking powerful." Aberforth answered.

"You're pretty fucking powerful."

"_I need a room where I can hide things_."

"You're pretty fucking powerful."

"_I need a room where I can hide things_."

"You're pretty fucking powerful."

"_I need a room where I can hide things_."

The statement that Aberforth made kept echoing in her head. Despite how much she tried to stop thinking about it, the statement kept cropping up again. She was trying to clear her mind in order to open up a room in the Room of Requirement. She'd been pacing for the past fifteen minutes because she couldn't remove the comment from her mind.

If she were honest, Hermione could admit that it was motivated by pride. Aberforth rarely gave compliments to anyone. When they had met in her own time, he was gruff and rude. His personality made it obvious that he believed she, Ron, and Harry were on a suicide mission. So to hear him bluntly tell her that she was brilliant made her want to straighten her spine and strut around. However at the moment the fact that she couldn't stop thinking about it was beginning to grate on her nerves because it was inhibiting her present goals.

"Hey," Remus said. His voice had sounded from out of nowhere, and Hermione flinched whipping around with her left hand on her throat and her wand pointed at him with a spell on her lips. His hands were thrown up in a surrendering position and he had a soft smile on his face.

"It's just me. I apologize for startling you." The lycan teen said.

"I was hoping that we could talk about the other day," Remus said after a moment of Hermione not relaxing her position. She nodded and slowly lowered her wand, although it took her a few moments to put it away.

"Um, I guess that I wanted to just discuss the whole, Sirius, situation with me and you, you know which happened at the bar the other day." Remus said. Hermione smiled at the fact that he was babbling somewhat incoherently.

"Remus, I only see you platonically," She said. He didn't seem to hear her, rather he continued to talk nervously until he abruptly ceased.

"What?"

"I apologize for my behavior, but you don't have to worry. I'm not secretly crushing on you or anything like that. I just assumed that if Sirius saw us kissing, he'd back off," she explained.

"Why would you want him to back off?" Remus asked. His tone held a large amount of genuine surprise which pushed Hermione to question him.

"Why wouldn't I?"

"Well it's Sirius." Remus answered. Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Come on, I mean you've seen the bloke. All girls love him." Remus added defensively.

"His personality leaves something to be desired," Hermione countered. Remus raised an eyebrow and so she plunged ahead, knowing that this would be a conversation which she would regret.

"Can you imagine how irritating it is to have multiple people ask you on dates—presuming that you're automatically going to say yes—when you've never spoken to them before in your life? That was my entire week leading up to Hogsmeade, and then the entire day. People refused to leave me alone. I was there to see my dad, and just hide out. No one goes into the Hogs Head. Yet the day that I do, everyone and their mother turns up.

"Add to that the fact that I was literally followed around all day long, and the second that Sirius Black shows up he decides to make a show of "claiming" me. As a friend he should have asked me about my day, but instead he just decides to act like a Neanderthal. Then my other friends sit there and start making fun of me over the entire situation!" Hermione said.

"I am so exhausted," she whispered.

"People either need to go away or start paying attention." Hermione finally said as she stared at the ground.

"Hermione, we are paying attention," Remus said quietly.

"You're not letting us in. You're pushing away as much as possible, because you think that will eventually work. Why do you think there's always at least one of us around? We watch you react to people and loud noises; it scares us."

"I'll give you the point you made about Sirius not making the right call all the time. Yes he can be overbearing, but he cares about you. You thought he'd go away by making a move on me? What you didn't count on was the fact that no one makes him jealous. Jealousy isn't something that Sirius feels. If a girl isn't interested he moves on to the next.

"With you it's different. He nearly punched me afterwards. I could see him fighting with himself. I know that position well—to be at war with yourself. You know that position well."

Hermione's eyes locked onto his suddenly terrified.

"You don't think I have that look memorized? The one where you know that despite how dangerous the world and people around you are; that you're the real threat? I live that. It's paralyzing—worse than any fear that could manifest in your mind or reality."

She knew that he was being honest. Remus had once told her that very same statement, albeit it was eons ago to her. Ironically they were talking about Sirius and how it felt to be trapped in his house. The conversation had taken a turn into a darker discussion when she'd mentioned that she was worried he might do something drastic. Unfortunately six months later, Sirius had fallen into the veil.

This was different though. She was different. She wasn't locked up in a manor. She was just trapped.

"We can only help you if you let us," Remus said softly.

"You can't help me," Hermione whispered.

"Why not?"

"You can't save someone from hurting themselves," she answered.

"That doesn't mean we can't help protect you along the way. Even the most powerful need help now and again. People were made to work with other people. We need something larger, more comprehensive than living alone. Think of it like a large body. A body isn't just a single part blown up into something huge. It's all the different-but-similar parts arranged and functioning together" Remus said. Hermione looked at him confused for a moment.

"How do you know that?" She asked.

"Because it's true," Remus answered. Hermione shook her head.

"No. You're quoting the bible. How do you know about that verse? It's from 1 Corinthinans."

Remus looked at her surprised as he nodded.

"My mom's a muggleborn. She grew up in church, despite the whole magic thing she kept with it." He answered.

"How do you know?"

"Mum found it after she left home," Hermione answered. It wasn't a lie. Her mom hadn't grown up with church, but her father had introduced her to it shortly after they had met. She was grateful that it was long before their marriage when her mother had embraced the faith. It was comforting to know that she didn't screw that up.

"It's true. We're meant to have relationships. Whether you're religious or not, you know that there's a reason you're drawn to other people. No matter how much you push other people away, there will always be a void." Remus told her.

"I used to think that the isolation was worth the price to obtain it. It took me years to realize the damage I was doing to myself and it took even longer to fix it substantially," Remus said. Hermione looked at him surprised that he was talking with her about this.

"Why do you care? You made it pretty clear when we met that you thought I was off-kilter," Hermione pointed out.

"It was wrong of me to judge, and to be honest I trust very few people which is why I am able to recognize the same reactions that you have. I've had them. I've been terrified of myself just as you have, and I was blessed to have friends who were willing to pull me out of those spirals." Remus explained.

"Those same people are trying to do the same thing for you."

Hermione watched him for a minute, wondering what Remus was attempting to do with this conversation. For a moment she thought of her Remus who had long learned how to learn secrets from other people by connecting with them and getting them to relax. She remembered him mentioning that he had perfected this gift by the time that Harry was born.

"Remus," she said quietly.

"I don't trust you at all."

He didn't look surprised by the statement at all, instead he broke out into a smile.

"Aren't all Dumbledore's supposed to trust blindly?" He asked teasingly. Hermione cracked a grin as she rolled her eyes. She glanced at the wall which hid the Room of Requirement, and knew that she wouldn't be getting inside today.

* * *

_Radioactive- Imagine Dragons_


	27. Getting Caught

_This update is relatively short compared to the last few chapters which I posted. The reason behind this is that this was writen during Finals Week. So for all of you who are in the middle of completing a semester, have a lovely gift. I'm still concerned about the pacing, so this will set it up for a slightly more accelerated plot. At least I hope so. As usual, please leave me comments, the good, the bad, and the ugly. :D (Mostly focus on the good though!).  
_Aalis

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I'm waking up to ash and dust  
I wipe my brow and I sweat my rust  
I'm breathing in the chemicals

"I need a room where I can hide things."

_"You're pretty fucking powerful."_

"I need a room where I can hide things."

_"You're pretty fucking powerful."_

"I need a room where I can hide things."

_"You're pretty fucking powerful."_

She was back in front of the Room of Requirement entrance, and once again she was growing immensely frustrated with the lack of success which she was having. The wave of deja vu that she felt was enormous, and incredibly irritating. Each time she focused on what she was looking for, all she could think about was what Aberforth said. Clearly she had issues with pride.

It wasn't true though. She wasn't powerful. She couldn't be. If she were then more of her friends would have survived through the final battle. If she were as clever as people believed her to be, she would have figured out a way to get home. There would've been a solution that she discovered to help stop Voldemort sooner.

If she were powerful enough, she wouldn't be standing in 1976. If she were strong enough she wouldn't have moments in which she broke down, physically unable to move. She wouldn't experience minutes where she screamed in her head, but her mouth was unable to formulate words. She wasn't powerful at all. She couldn't be.

"I need a room where I can hide things."

_"You're pretty fucking powerful." _

No matter how many times she continued to visualize the room in which she was looking for, no door appeared. It was frustrating and Hermione didn't understand why she was having such a difficult time in summoning the room. If she were honest, she had need of the room. She needed to hide herself. More than anything, Hermione Granger; now Dumbledore needed to disappear. She longed for silence, for a moment of peace and she knew that she would never get it.

Her conversation the day before with Remus had confirmed her suspicions. The Marauders were there to stay. They found her far too interesting to relinquish the grasp they had on her. It didn't matter their first impressions weren't the greatest, to them Hermione Granger was an enigma, a puzzle to decode and unfortunately for her; Remus, James, and Sirius loved mysteries, and puzzles.

It was a wonder they weren't in Ravenclaw.

"I need a place to hide," she whispered. The door, which she'd only seen once before in her life, appeared after she'd ceased speaking. Her breath caught, surprised and suddenly afraid to enter. The last time she'd been in this room, Crabbe had stupidly cast Fiendfyre and ultimately killed himself. Hermione knew though that she had a responsibility to help Harry, especially now that she had his wand. She had to give him his best fighting chance now that he didn't have the shared wand core that had saved his life in their fourth year.

With that thought in mind, she hesitantly took the necessary fives steps across the hallway and wrenched the door open. On the other side were huge piles of junk, surrounding hundreds of pillars. Hermione found it just as jaw dropping as she did when she'd first seen it. She let the door close behind her as she stared at the room.

"How am I supposed to find you?" She asked in a low murmur. This task had the possibility of taking weeks, if not months. Looking back, she didn't understand how Harry had managed to find it in the first, never mind having a time limit to do so. She began to venture in further to the large hall, glancing down an aisle every now and then. She pushed as far back as possible, wondering how far Tom Riddle would have gone to hide his precious secret. She had no doubt that it was here; his only opportunity to hide the diadem would have been when he'd interviewed as a teacher.

It took an hour for her to find the back wall of the hall. She started walking down into the furthest row of pillars, looking at various piles of junk for anything similar to the bust of Rowena Ravenclaw. To her disappointment she found nothing until she was closer tot eh center of the room. She knew that she'd been missing for more than three hours already, but she didn't care. Hermione swiped a piece of hair out of her eyes, when she suddenly saw it. She stumbled over to it, tripping out of sheer excitement. She paused to pull out a leather, drawstring pouch and open it before she gingerly picked up the Diadem. Dropping it in she quickly pulled the pouch shut and let out a sigh of relief. She had designed this bag specifically to hold Horocruxes. Her experiment was based around the idea that if it was lined with lead, it wouldn't be able to reach beyond the bag with it's magic. She didn't want them to be able to call out to Voldemort as she gathered them, nor was she willing to risk them trying to influence her as they did when the Golden Trio had been on the run.

"My, my Hermione, I didn't peg you as a thief, what do you have there?"

"It's a Horocrux Sirius, what else?" Hermione answered without bothering to turn around and deal with the smirk that she knew was on his face. He constantly had to tease her! She quickly shoved the pouch into her pocket so as to not worry about losing it. Sirius Black was a busy body plain and simple. He was forever nosing about her buisness before and after his trip into the veil. Anytime she was researching in the library, Sirius would show up, and pretend to be cleaning. He would always be shocked when she called him out on his intentions and proceed with mock outrage. That process would repeat every few days. His younger self was worse.

Hermione froze at the thought. His younger self was right behind her. She hesitantly turned around, and confirmed her suspicions. She stupidly had forgotten. It was so easy to forget that she wasn't dealing with her friends.

"Explain now," Sirius said pointing a wand at her.

This wasn't _her_ Sirius Black.

Hermione Granger found that once more in the past few days, she was speechless.

"Um," was the only syllable to be uttered. It rang loudly in the silence, and did nothing to appease the angry boy in front of her. When she didn't speak, he did.

"That's dark magic Dumbledore. Magic that has been hidden as a result. You have to search the crevices of pureblood libraries to find such knowledge. I never dreamed that your family would own such books," Sirius growled at her. His wand did not waver, and she did not speak.

"Who was your victim?"

Hermione was surprised that he skipped the melodramatics of accusing her of being someone he didn't know. After the events in her third year, she'd learned that Sirius Black loved on dramatics. He thrived on them, adn if they didn't exist he created them. More often than not, Molly only had caught onto the twins, after Sirius had ratted them out. His plan She started shaking her head and couldn't help rolling her eyes.

"This isn't something trivial. You can't expect to just hide this." He said with another growl.

"Sirius, if I have a Horocrux already, what makes you think that I care about killing someone else?" Hermione couldn't help the question. It slipped past her lips and floated over to Sirius. He pointed his wand at her, and accepted a fighting stance.

"It's not mine," she said with a sigh. Hermione crossed her arms over her chest as she leaned back onto her left leg.

"Like I'd believe that. Let me guess it's Voldemort's?" Sirius asked sarcastically.

"Yes."

"I'm not daft Dumbledore. Of course you're going to claim that it's his. I suppose this is you're way of admitting that you're working for him," Sirius said. His voice was angry and bitter.

"Considering my family—"

"Bullshit. I come from a family full of egotistical purists, and I don't hold the same beliefs. Your family background means nothing," Sirius growled cutting her off. She couldn't prevent the smile blossoming from her face at his declaration.

"Yes I know that Sirius," she said.

"Explain now. I can't believe I chose you," Sirius growled. Hermione raised her eyebrow at the statement.

"Chose me? What are you talking about?" She asked suddenly distracted.

"Don't change the subject!" Sirius yelled.

"I didn't. You were the one who brought it up, so explain." Hermione countered.

"Dumbledore if you don't tell me the truth right now, I will be forced to take action." Sirius said.

"Doubtful. You would've done it already," Hermione said. To her surprise she was forced to side step a spell which Sirius shot in her direction.

"Are you crazy?!" She yelled at him as her wand shot into her hand. They were both now in dueling positions, and Hermione knew that this could end very badly.

"I warned you Dumbledore," Sirius said.

"Sirius you don't want to try to fight me," Hermione warned him.

"Why, did your Lord teach you to fight properly?" Sirius asked mockingly.

"You're being an idiot."

"You know, I would've pegged Snivelus as a traitor before you, or is that why you're best friends?" Sirius asked with a sneer.

"Jealous?" Hermione asked as she dodged another spell, and sent her own. Sirius easily dodged it and looked at her confused.

"Did you just send a Tickling Hex at me?" He asked confused. Hermione nodded and shrugged.

"What kind of Death Eater, uses a Tickling Hex?" He asked.

"They don't. I'm not a Death Eater," Hermione corrected.

"So what?! You're just a lone assassin who's bent on killing You-Know-Who? You'd be a prize to him. Imagine his glee if he had the niece of Albus Dumbledore in his inner circle." Sirius sneered.

"Even if I wanted to, he'd never accept me as a Death Eater, Sirius." Hermione snapped at him. She was frustrated, and it was becoming more clear that she was going to have to be honest with him.

"Why should i believe you?" Sirius yelled.

"Because I'm muggleborn!" Hermione yelled back. He started laughing at her.

"You expect me to believe that?" He asked.

"It's the truth," Hermione told him.

"You're a member of the Dumbledore family," he protested.

"Magical adoption," she answered. Sirius seemed to lose steam at the admission.

"So you really are some sort of an assassin then?" he asked hopefully.

* * *

_Radioactive- Imagine Dragons_


	28. Spilling My Guts

_Alright guys, I hope you enjoy this update! Please let me know what you think!_

* * *

"Let's get this straight, you expect me to believe that you have decided to take down You-Know-Who all on your own when the vast majority of adults are incapable of doing so?" Sirius asked her. They were sitting on a balcony located just below the Astronomy Tower and Hermione had cast a number of spells to avoid someone overhearing their conversation.

"I don't expect you to believe anything," Hermione answered.

"This entire concept is insane," Sirius told her.

"That's a legal term, and I'm not breaking the law," Hermione told him.

"At least not yet," she added under her breath. The look he was giving her reminded Hermione of the Sirius she'd left behind. Whenever he found out that she, Harry, and Ron were up to something incredibly dangerous he would immediately begin trying to talk her out of it. It had always irritated her to no end that he chose her to pursue, although during his absence after their fifth year, she found that she missed the arguments. Until he showed up again and began to repeat the process, then she just found it extremely irritating.

"How is your family okay with you doing this?" Sirius asked. Hermione looked at him questioning the seriousness with which he was asking.

"Right, you haven't told them," he said answering his own question after she didn't respond verbally.

"If you're freaking out about this, imagine how they would handle it," she pointed out in a very calm manner.

Hermione knew how they would handle it. Her "Uncle" Albus would have serious doubts about the plan, and he would attempt to prevent her from putting herself in danger. In her own timeline, Albus Dumbledore would have little to no scruples about sacrificing her for the greater good, however because of her role in this timeline she doubted that he would respond in the same manner. Her doubts were based upon the earlier timeline, he didn't have that greater good mindset yet and she was family. Despite his benevolence towards muggleborns and ensuring tolerance, he was still a pureblood which meant that family was to be protected at all times.

She had no doubt that if she withheld information from him that he would reluctantly give her leave to track down Voldemort as she wished, however she honestly didn't want to deal with the inevitable fight that it would take to reach that consensus. Her adoptive father on the other hand would fight her beyond reason when he found out. Hermione knew that she could count on Aberforth to train her so that she would be able to survive, but she didn't doubt for a moment that he'd try to stop her if he could. What's more is that she was pretty sure he'd be successful at doing so.

"You're sixteen years old! This isn't something that you should be in charge of! You aren't even fully trained to as a witch, much less ready to go up against a mad man who lives in the dark arts and doesn't have any rules! Hermione he won't hesitate to kill you the moment he realizes what you're trying to do." Sirius protested catching her attention again.

"Well he might try to recruit me instead, and then I would at least have options to choose from," Hermione said. The look on Sirius' face was clearly a mixture, and if she had to guess she'd say that it was created from sheer horror, and disbelief.

"This isn't funny Hermione!" He yelled suddenly.

"This will come down to life and death. You cannot expect to start hunting him down without any repercussions! This is not your job to take care of," Sirius argued.

"Who else is going to do it?" Hermione asked raising an eyebrow, and putting her hands on her hips. She hadn't had the opportunity to climb up onto her soap box since showing up in the past, and it felt good to be back in her familiar stance that she typically reserved for the boys.

"How about someone who's actually graduated! The Aurors for example, considering that they're specifically trained to handle this sort of thing," Sirius argued.

"You know better than to think that they'll be successful," Hermione said quietly. His eyes met hers and he ran a hand over his face for a brief moment.

"The vast majority of people are unable to handle the reality of what Voldemort means. Instead of fighting back they'll cave into his demands out of fear which will weaken the Ministry. The Aurors will be infected with dissenters, and so will the higher ups. They cannot be trusted in this task.

"What's more is that they wouldn't be able to handle it. This magic is too dark for the average person to comprehend. Could you imagine how people would react fi they knew that we were hunting Horocruxes? Not to mention the fact that it would inevitably give him time to move them," Hermione pointed out.

Sirius listened to her until she finished speaking. He pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed audibly. She could tell that he wanted to argue with her, and she expected him to start yelling again. What she didn't anticipate him to do was utter the following sentence.

"This is why I chose you isn't it? So I can assist you in this task," he muttered. It seemed like he was speaking more to himself than to her which caused her to crease her forehead in slight confusion.

"You've got to be bloody mad. Clearly I've gone absolutely bonkers in the future."

The statements didn't make much sense to her, although she did remember him making similar statemets earlier, though she never got the chance to ask about what he meant. At this point he was no longer looking at her, and instead was pacing in front of her while continuing to mutter to himself.

"Sirius what do you mean by chose me?" She asked. He looked up at her surprised.

"You mean you don't know?" He asked seeming to be equally unsure of the conversation.

"What am I supposed to know Sirius?" She asked quickly growing exasperated with him and his riddles. He pointed at her and Hermione found herself glancing down at her appearance before looking up at him without an idea as to what he was talking about. Thankfully he took pity on her and elaborated.

"The necklace that you wear everyday," He answered. Hermione looked at him, as she gingerly reached a hand up to her neck to feel the piece of jewelry that he was referring to and she was surprised to find that it took her a minute to remember it was the pearl necklace.

"You forgot that you were wearing it?" He asked. Hermione nodded.

"I don't remember putting it on," she told him.

"Come to think of it, I don't remember the last time I took it off."

"It isn't something that you take off," Sirius told her without thinking about what he was saying.

"What? It's a necklace, you just have to remove the clasp," Hermione said reaching behind her neck to unlock the necklace to prove her point. When she couldn't find it, she began feeling the chain slightly more frantically until Sirius gently pulled her hands away. He gave her a sympathetic smile.

"You're wearing a Black family heirloom, one that is specifically keyed to the first born of my immediate family, which happens to be me," he explained as though she were a two year old. It took her a few seconds to process what he said. The first time she thought she understood what he said she was positive that she had to be mistaken, however the more she looked at him she realized he wasn't having her on.

"What did you do?" She growled at him.

"Technically I didn't do anything," Sirius said defensively.

"Forgive me if I don't believe you after you inform me that I have a Black Heirloom around my bloody neck! It's a wonder I haven't been cursed! So don't think for a moment that you're going to be able to escape responsibility due to a technicality," Hermione hissed at him.

"You should've asked what I was giving you before you accepted it. Didn't anyone teach you that boys are generally evil and all that nonsense?" Sirius asked.

"Boys? Yes, Men however, who are twenty-years older than you, no. Especially after you'd repeatedly saved their worthless arse multiple times. I can't believe you! If Harry knew…..oh Merlin, Harry would kill you—Ron—I'm going to kill you!" She sputtered.

"Twenty-years older?" Sirius asked.

"I'm twenty years older than you?"

"I'm going to kill you," Hermione moaned not hearing his question at all.

"Hey, this isn't my fault. I didn't choose to bring you back here….yet," Sirius said with his voice trailing off towards the end of the statement.

"You are in fact confirming that the necklace is what brought me backwards in time?" Hermione asked dropping all pretenses. What was the point in pretending when there were too many unanswered questions on the table between the two of them.

"Yes, but twenty years?" Sirius muttered.

"It's greater than twenty years, I was thirteen when we first met," Hermione snapped at him. He gaped at her response and she ignored it.

"I don't understand why you didn't tell me what you were going to do. Sirius you told me that there wasn't a plan! You said there was no particular strategy that you had. Why did you lie?!" Hermione asked suddenly getting frustrated again.

"How should I know?" Sirius asked throwing up his hands into the air.

"Because you made the decision!"

"No I didn't. If you have forgotten, I'm the younger, better looking Sirius Black and therefore I am not responsible for what the older version chose to do.," Sirius answered.

"Bullshit Sirius!"

"I warned you Sirius! I told you not to do anything stupid and you told me that I had nothing to worry about. You lied to me. You bloody fucking lied!" Hermione yelled. Sirius Black looked at her shocked to hear her curse.

"You can't blame me for something that I haven't done yet!"

"Yes I bloody well can. I will never see any of my friends again, or my parents. That's your fault! What am I supposed to do with that?" Hermione asked.

"He should've informed you about what you were doing; I didn't even realize the bloody necklace was missing until you showed up!"

That response had Hermione openly gaping at him for a brief moment.

"Who loses something that can transport a person back in time?! Better yet who lets that out of their sight?" She asked flabbergasted.

"I didn't know that it could do that alright? The most I had to go on was that you stole it, so I started asking questions—"

"Wait! Who did you ask? If the wrong person finds out—"

"Relax, I talked to my cousin Andromeda, she's cool." Sirius told her. Hermione relaxed immediately and smiled.

"How is she?!" she couldn't help the question. Andromeda was always one of her favorite Order members especially when it came to dealing with Sirius. They're fights were famous for erupting during meetings, and Andromeda always won. It was always fun to watch and for Hermione it was the equivalent of revenge for all the times that he annoyed her.

"Wait, you know Andromeda?" Sirius asked.

"Yes," Hermione answered.

"How do you know my cousin?" He asked confused.

"You'll find I know the majority of the people in your life, or at least know of them," Hermione told him.

"Again, we met when I was thirteen, and you were kind of an integral part of my life. The boys worshipped you, I mean after third year and the whole 'We-Thought-You-Were-A-Murderer,' thing," Hermione said somewhat babbling. Sirius stared at her.

"What?" He asked. Hermione bit her lip.

"Um, that's not important," she told him.

"What does the necklace do? How did it pull me this far back in time?"

"Honestly I have no idea. I didn't even know that it was a possibility until I spoke to Andromeda. She told me about a few myths surrounding that specific piece that has survived within the family, although they've long been believed to just be fictional stories. From what she told me, it can take an individual to any point which it deems the most necessary, as though it has a mind of its own. As I was saying, I had it until you showed up, which makes me believe that it removed itself from this time when he sent you back."

"Never trust something that can think for itself if you can't see where it keeps its brain," Hermione muttered under her breath, remembering what Arthur told Ginny after the diary incident. Sirius looked at her somewhat confused for a moment.

"Why do you keep referring to yourself as 'he' you are the one responsible for this. Does that mean I might just disappear at any moment then?" She asked him.

"No, it's a one time use. It brought you here for a reason; my guess is because this is the point in my life where either were the closest in age or there's something that you have to do. It's probably both in this instance," Sirius told her.

Hermione was trying to calm down, but every time Sirius spoke, it just seemed to trigger her anger. His voice dropped several decimals regarding volume when he started talking again.

"As for never seeing your friends again, that isn't true. You just have to wait for time to catch up to you.

"Just wait for time to catch up to you," he told her. Hermione froze as the anger melted off her face.

"It won't be the same. I'll be twenty years older than them, and what am I supposed to say, 'hey guys you don't remember me, but in an original timeline we were best friends, and fought a dark lord, a basilisk, a troll, freed a mass-murderer, won the tri-wizard tournament, fought death eaters repeatedly, and skipped our seventh year but you don't remember any of it?" She asked with a slightly demented laugh.

"That muggle family, from the paper, those were your parents weren't they?" Sirius asked quietly. Hermione nodded.

"I'm so sorry love," he said as he pulled her into a hug.

"You should of told me."

"Yeah because that makes sense when I'm a fucking Dumbledore," Hermione said bitterly.

"That isn't your fault," Sirius said softly.

"You know that you can't tell anyone about me right? It'll put both of us in danger if anyone finds out the truth, not to mention people will start calling me insane." She told him.

"I know," Sirius answered.

"No I mean you can't tell anyone. Not James, nor Remus, no one.

"Hermione, I cannot tell anyone," he said as he sat down next to her. He touched the necklace and looked at her in the eyes.

"This ensures that I protect you, which includes from any information which I know will harm you," Sirius explained. She looked at him slightly confused about the statement.

"I'm confused," she said after a moment of pursing her lips.

"Why does this necklace prevent you from telling people about me?"

"It is magically linked to me, and compels me to protect you. Haven't you wondered about why I'm suddenly right next to you when you feel as though you're in danger?" Sirius asked her. Hermione nodded, unaware that his hand was still on her necklace and they'd been staring at one another for more than two straight minutes.

"This is extremely powerful magic that brought you back here Hermione," Sirius told her. He suddenly found himself glancing at her lips.

"It has ensured your protection and allied you with strong families in order for you to complete your task, which apparently is a suicide mission," he added annoyed. Hermione chuckled slightly at that, and before she knew it she was leaning into kiss him.


	29. Allies

_Here's the latest chapter. As always share your thoughts. _

* * *

It was late March. She'd been in this time for nearly a year and yet somehow months had slipped by without her noticing. It felt like she'd been there for a month tops, and she didn't understand the fact that the days seemed to just meld together. She was having difficulty differentiating between them. If she was honest she would admit that part of this was because of how much she'd taken to wasting each day. More often than not she wasn't able to get out of bed, much less attend classes. Lily had put a stop to that once she realized what was going on, and Hermione began to grow useless on the weekends. She knew that she was to blame for her lack of success, but she also knew that even if she'd been up to it, there were too many eyes watching her.

If she were to commit to taking Harry's place in the timeline she would have to do so behind the scenes. Her searches would be limited to holiday breaks and after graduation which would indubitably give her more freedom to work. However there was also the timing to consider in regards to how Voldemort begin to grow more bold. Thankfully in her own time, she had sat down with Sirius, Ron, and Harry mapping out his original movements, which the Black Heir had believed would help them to predict his future maneuvers. Hermione now had high suspicions that he was counting on her to memorize and retain the information so that he could send her back in time.

There would be casualties despite her efforts. There would be people that she couldn't save. Her biggest issue was that there was a slight possibility that all the information that she had was useless. She'd wondered about the impact that her presence would have here. It was entirely possible that the timeline she grew up never happened at all, although she had doubts about that theory until she had confirmation about certain events transpiring in the exact same manner that they had in her time though it was entirely possible that it was correct. The only method to verify the theory would be to allow certain events to occur without interference. It was a waiting game.

"You're different than the rest." The sound of Remus' voice startled Hermione out of her thoughts, and she flinched violently. She looked up at the boy who was watching her and she suddenly felt as though there was something amiss.

"I beg your pardon?" She asked him as she realized they were in a corner of the library that few students frequented. It happened to be her favorite in her own time for that very reason.

"Always so polite. One of the many ways that you have been able to hide from view. No one sees the alpha that you are," Remus said smiling at her. There was something different about the expression on his face though, and it forced a skin crawl for a moment.

"What do they perceive?" She asked allowing her curiosity to get the better of her. Remus grinned in such a way that could only be termed under the word feral.

"What you allow them to see. They think of you as fragile object, something to be taken care of and they've no idea the danger that you bring. Tell me, what do you stay for?" He grinned at her again.

"There's nothing to go back to," she whispered. That was the truth, and even if she managed to make it to her own time, she wouldn't have been born. Her choices were very limited in that respect. If she were honest, she knew that she'd already made up her mind.

"You've met me before," the order of the words created a question, but the tone that he used was a statement.

"Why do you say that?" Hermione asked him. He was quite confident of his statement, and it showed through his posture. The way he held himself was a far cry from Remus; Moony showed no fear at all. He stood with his head held high and a smirk on his face.

"Your reactions are different from the others. They always respond with a degree of fear, some more than others."

"Yes, we've met before Moony," Hermione confirmed after momentarily wondering what would happen if she lied.

Spring break started the following day, and Hermione had been packed for a week. The Marauders had been watching her closely and she began to suspect that they thought she was going to disappear on them. Even Severus was behaving in a similar manner. By breakfast it had already become a nuisance.

"Sprite where are you going?" Sirius asked her as he stopped her from leaving Gryffindor table. She looked at him before rolling her eyes.

"To go get my stuff so I can leave," she answered.

"It's already on the train, so there's no reason for you to do so love," Sirius told her with a grin. She knew that he was up to something, but she wasn't entirely sure what that might be. A glance towards Lily told her that they were all in on it. Hermione got her answer when she tried to sneak off after breakfast was officially over when Sirius literally through her over his shoulder.

"Sirius Black! You put me down this minute!"

"Sorry love, but I already know what you're up to thanks to Snivellus. He mentioned the little stunt you pulled over Christmas Break, and we're making sure that someone stays with you," he told her as he walked towards the carriages.

"Excuse me?" Hermione blurted. She wouldn't be able to do anything if he was telling her that she was about to be babysat for the next week. When he grabbed a carriage, he made sure they had one by themselves, and shut the door. He then explained that he would be staying with her for the break to ensure that she stayed alive in order to make it back to school after it was over. By the time that they'd reached the train station in Hogsmeade, Hermione was fuming and Sirius had already been forced to disarm her.

"Are you going to walk to the train or do I have to carry you?" He asked her in a simpering tone. Hermione lunged for him as a result, trying to punch him, but he managed to dodge it. Before she knew it, her feet were off the ground and she'd been thrown over his shoulder again.

"IT'S ASTOUNDING THAT ANY GIRL WOULD PUT UP WITH YOU!" Hermione bellowed as he walked onto the train, pass several students and Hogsmeade residents. Sirius waved cheerfully at all of them while trying to ignore the struggling witch. She tried fighting more once they were on the train, but he had immobilized her legs, which she'd not realized prior.

"Now Sprite, this will go much easier for everyone if you just accept that I'm going home with you," he said gently as he blocked the door to the compartment with his body.

"You can't just invite yourself into someone else's home! What if I had plans set already? You don't even know if I was going to be there!" Hermione protested. Sirius grinned at her, and she developed a bit in her stomach as a result.

"I didn't invite myself. I spoke with your uncle and father about my concern over you staying at home by yourself. They informed me that you have your own residence and not so much as a House Elf for company. It was those two that gave me permission to stay with you over the holidays," he explained. '

"Well…you're going to have to deal with it when I go out on several dates then," Hermione said clearly flustered by the news that the pureblood was planning on moving in with her without permission. Sirius grinned at her and shook his head.

"Sorry love, but I know for a fact that you haven't been asked out much less accepted any dates," he said. She furrowed her eyebrows at him trying to figure out why he was so confident in that statement.

"We'll see now won't we," she said with her voice dropping to a chill. He stepped closer to her, which she had not been expecting and drew her in with a well placed arm around her waist. Hermione gulped as she breathed in his light cologne and realized that they were entirely too close.

"Now, Miss Dumbledore you wound me," Sirius said in a quiet tone.

"After our previous conversation, and the particular manner in which it ended I must admit that I assumed you'd accepted the fact that I was making my intentions known," he said. Hermione stared at him wide-eyed with her mouth dropping slightly.

"You didn't give any intentions!" She blurted out.

"Oh, right that was you, wasn't it?" He asked cheekily. Hermione was saved from having to answer by the compartment door sliding open, and James peeking his head inside.

"Is it safe to come in mate or would you like to continue snogging in private?" He asked innocently just before being forced to dodge Hermione's fierce attempt to punch him despite Sirius' body still being in the way. The Black heir wrapped his arms around her waist and turned with a grin towards his best friend.

"Should be safe enough, she's disarmed and for the most part I can handle her," he said cheerfully. Despite Hermione's annoyance, she noticed that she wasn't angry which surprised her. When she began to pay particular attention to how she felt, she realized that she was actually rather content with Sirius holding her. She saw the rest of the group file inside, including Lily, after Sirius had managed to get her to send down.

The train ride was incredibly uncomfortably for everyone. Hermione did nothing except stare out the window, and each time someone attempted to speak with her she wouldn't engage at all. James began fuming about her behavior because he believed it to be arrogance. Ultimately it was the look on Lily's face when she tried to engage Hermione and received nothing in return.

"Are you always this selfish?!" He yelled suddenly at her. The conversation between Remus, Peter, and Sirius ceased immediately as everyone turned to look

"Would it kill you to be normal for five minutes? You're acting like the biggest pureblooded prat that ever lived, just because your friends are trying to help you? Get over yourself!" Nobody moved for a moment and that was all the time they were given because Hermione exploded.

"Harry James Potter just shut up! I've saved your life more times than I can count, and I've followed you head first into danger despite the fact that it was a trap. I've been tortured more than once because I've been with you, and I've never once laid the blame at your feet. So just shut up! Don't you dare call me a pureblooded prat. Don't you fucking dare!"

By the time that Hermione was finished ranting everyone was staring at her open mouthed. James himself looked downright astounded and confused at the same time. It took her a minute to realize that she wasn't staring at her best friend being an ass, but his dad who typically behaved as such on a daily basis. She saw everyone staring at her and the confused question in Harry's dad's eyes. It was the words that were forming on James' lips that prompted her actions. She wandlessly summoned her wand without a word from where Sirius kept it and without pause she apparated. As Hermione disappeared from the moving train, she took their screams of horror with her.

She landed in the middle of the air, just outside of the train tracks that the Hogwarts Express was on. It felt just like the time that Harry, Ron, and she had jumped from the back of the dragon as she plummeted towards the lake beneath her. The water was harsh and biting as it reached up to pull her under the surface. She allowed it to take her, and momentarily thought about not fighting to break the surface. The need for oxygen however was too great, and so she did eventually have to come up for oxygen. By the time she reached the nearest shore her leg was throbbing painfully just above the knee. As she dragged herself out of the water, she looked down to see that she'd managed to splinch herself on her right leg. It wasn't too bad and it took very little time for her to heal it, so she could dry her clothes out; Hermione apparated to the nearest town thereafter.

She didn't return home for the following two days.

"Where the bloody hell have you been?" Sirius yelled as she opened the door of her flat. She gave a sigh in relief as she heard his voice.

"How the hell did you get into my apartment?" She asked him with an irritated sigh.

"I let him in considering the circumstances," Aberforth said from the kitchen where he was nursing a glass of Firewhiskey.

"Dad, hi," Hermione said after a moment.

"Don't 'hi, Dad' me," he said gruffly.

"Do you realize how dangerous that was?" he asked her. She didn't answer, and she told herself that it was because neither would actually buy any reason as legitimate.

"You can't apparate off of high-speeding trains!" Sirius yelled. She raised an eyebrow at the boy.

"Yet I did exactly that," Hermione answered as she looked at him tiredly. Sirius' response was to turn and look at Aberforth for help.

"Kid you have to stop pushing yourself; otherwise you'll wind up dead. The boy is staying whether you approve or not. He's been added to the wards and you will be nice to him," the older man told her.

"If I don't?"

"I don't suggest you attempt to find out," Aberforth told her in a cold voice. He left a few minutes later with a quick hug, and Hermione retreated to her bedroom. She didn't come out for the rest of the day, and Sirius slowly started to worry. Originally he had chosen to give her space, recognizing that she'd been upset about what had occurred on the train. He chose to wait. The next day at noon when she still hadn't emerged from the room, he decided to cease waiting on her.

Knocking tentatively he waited a moment to see if she would respond. When she didn't he opened the door and found his mouth plummeting. There was no furniture in the room, and yet Hermione was standing in the middle. The walls were covered with hundreds of newspaper articles, some which looked brand new, and others which looked as though they had been printed thirty years ago. There were muggle newspapers mixed with wizarding ones, and they completely covered the walls.

As he looked at the older news papers he was surprised to see that they were matched with a newer one, and dated the same. It took him a moment to realize that they were the same newspaper. Hermione was writing on the floor with her wand, as she stared at the four walls around her.

"What are you doing?" Sirius finally managed to ask.

"I'm compiling a timeline," she answered without looking up. He watched her wand work absolutely fascinated by the concept.

"Hermione, you're performing magic outside of school," he reminded her after a moment.

"The Trace is a joke. It doesn't exist on wands, witches, or wizards. The only way they find out is if you trip one of the Ministry's detection spells, and they are prevented by the wards we set up," she explained.

"I could torture you, and no one would ever find out due to underage magic," it was the lack of empathy in her voice that made a shiver go down his spine. It reminded him of what Aberforth had told him seconds before she'd walked through the door.

"_You have to complete the bond. Waiting is just going to make everything worse. It'll put both of you in danger, and she's already on the brink of losing her empathy for other people outside of saving the world. You're the only one who can teach her that life is worth living at this point_."

"Where did you get all of these newspapers?"

"I've been collecting the newest ones for the past few days all over England. I had planned on doing it after we arrived in London, but after the incident on the train I figured it'd be best to start immediately. The ones that look positively ancient you snuck into my bag before you sent me back. Clearly you'd been planning this for some time," she explained. He was surprised to hear a lack of bitterness in her voice. He walked over to where she stood, so he could examine the room from her perspective.

"What exactly are you looking for?"

"Everything," she whispered.

"I need to find a starting point. I have to make sure that what I know to be true, is actually what happens before I can begin changing things. I need every little hint, anything that's slightly odd, just a hint out of place. all we'll have for a long time to go on. It won't spiral out of control for a few years I believe," Hermione said. In order for this entire plan to work she had to be methodological and precise otherwise it would fall to pieces far too quickly.

Sirius nodded muttered a series of spells. Wind rippled around the room and for a moment Hermione was worried that he had destroyed everything she'd put together in the past day and a half. After the room stilled, and the newspapers ceased their movements, she saw several large stacks of newspapers on a desk in front of them. She looked at Sirius confused for a moment before walking towards the table.

"These are copies of everything in this room in order by the date with the most recent on top. If you would like the oldest first I can reverse it in a matter of minutes, depending on how many newspapers we actually have sitting here. This way you are able to have the visual on the walls, and still can go through them individually," he explained. Hermione looked at him in surprise before smiling softly.

"Thank you," she whispered slightly.

"As a reward for my accomplishment, will you allow me to feed you and ensure you actually rest?" He asked her. She felt her pride prickle at the request, but she felt a soft glow and she nodded in agreement, allowing him to lead her from the room by the hand. All she could think about was how sweet Sirius was being at the moment. Ronald had certainly never reached this potential.

Before she could think about it too much, Hermione stopped moving, so that Sirius would turn and look at her. As he opened his mouth to ask her what was wrong, she hugged him tightly. Hermione turned her face into his neck as she felt him wrap his arms around her waist, holding her just as close as she was holding him.

"You really scared me today Sprite," he whispered. She nodded against his collarbone.

"I'm sorry," she answered.

"We thought you splinched yourself and bled out somewhere."

"No, I just went swimming. It helps to have a more specific location than just outside in your mind. You should take comfort in knowing that I can apparate in a tight situation though. Besides who else can say that they've apparated from a moving train?" She asked with a slight lift in her voice.


End file.
